MSCA opens €404.3 million call for Postdoctoral Fellowships

The 2025 call for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships is open as of 8 May 2025.

The grants aim to improve the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD, with a budget of €404.3 million. They will help researchers acquire new skills, develop their careers, and gain international, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral experience by working in another country.

These prestigious fellowships are also a stepping stone in researchers’ careers. They allow them to strengthen research cooperation with leading scientific teams and figures worldwide.

The call will close on 10 September 2025 and is expected to fund nearly 1650 projects.

Research in all fields

The call is open to applications in any scientific field, including Euratom research.

Fellowships include

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to researchers of any nationality to carry out a personalised project in the European Union (EU) or countries associated to Horizon Europe for up to 24 months
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to EU and Horizon Europe associated countries nationals or long-term residents wishing to work with organisations in third countries for a period of 12 to 24 months, before returning to Europe for 12 months

The scheme encourages researchers to gain experience beyond academia by giving them the opportunity to request an additional six months at the end of their fellowship to undertake a placement in a non-academic organisation in Europe.

Conditions for researchers and organisations

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to postdoctoral researchers from all over the world, of any nationality and at any career stage, with a maximum of 8 years of research experience after their PhD.

Some exceptions and specific conditions apply, for instance for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Researchers must develop an application with their prospective supervisor and apply together with their future host organisation, which can be

• a university
• a research institution or facility
• a company, small or medium-sized enterprise
• a government, public institution, or body
• a museum, hospital, or NGO
• any other organisation

based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe associated country.

As of January 2025, Switzerland benefits from transitional arrangements in place for countries in the process of associating to Horizon Europe. Swiss entities can therefore apply and be evaluated under this year’s call under the same conditions as other countries associated to Horizon Europe. Successful proposals will however no longer be treated as established in an associated country if the association agreement does not apply by the time of the signature of the grant agreement. Morocco and Egypt also benefit from transitional arrangements at the call opening.

Researchers applying to Global Fellowships will need to seek the commitment of an organisation based in a third country, as they will carry out their research there for a period of between 12 and 24 months.

The call is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers.

ERA Fellowships

Researchers applying for a standard European Fellowship with a host organisation in a “widening country” (i.e. a country with lower participation rates in Horizon Europe) can opt in to be considered for the ERA Fellowships call.

Around 45 ERA Fellowships will be awarded to excellent applicants who were not selected under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call due to budget constraints. 

Check out the list of eligible host countries for ERA Fellowships