The third call of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-funded Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme closed on 13 September 2023.

The European Research Executive Agency received 8,039 proposals. By comparison, 7,044 proposals were submitted in 2022.

This year’s submitted proposals are distributed as follows

• European fellowships: 7,178 proposals
• Global fellowships: 861 proposals

Through this call, the European Commission is expected to fund over 1,250 projects, with an indicative budget of €260.47 million.

Funding for excellent research

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility.

The scheme encourages researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector. It is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe as well as to those with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers in research.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to excellent researchers of any nationality.

ERA Fellowships

Researchers applying for a European fellowship with a host organisation from a “widening country” (i.e. a country with low participation rates in Horizon Europe) will have the chance to be considered for the ERA Fellowships call.

The ERA Fellowships will fund high-scoring proposals submitted under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships which cannot be funded due to budget constraints.

Seal of Excellence

The European Commission will also award Seal of Excellence certificates to researchers who applied under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call in 2023 but whose proposals cannot be funded due to budgetary constraints.

This label recognises the value of these high-quality proposals and helps individual applicants secure alternative funding, whilst host institutions gain international visibility and attractiveness.

Indicative timeline

Mid-September 2023 to mid-February 2024

Evaluation by the European Research Executive Agency and external independent expert evaluators.

Mid-February 2024

Notification of call results to applicants, including those eligible for ERA fellowships.        

• Applicants will be able to access the results of the evaluation on their personal space of the Funding and Tenders Opportunities Portal.
• An overview of the evaluation results, cut-off scores and statistics will be published on the page of the call Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023.

April 2024

Award of Seal of Excellence certificates for eligible applicants.

April-June 2024

Expected signature of the grant agreement with the European Commission for successful projects.

As of April 2024

First EU-funded projects start. Projects can start at the latest up to two years after the call deadline (i.e. September 2025).