MSCA Seal of Excellence scheme launches in Germany and the Netherlands
The Seal of Excellence (SoE) is a quality label awarded to applicants for MSCA Individual Fellowships who achieved a high score in their applications but unfortunately were not awarded funding due to budgetary constraints.

By affirming proposals scoring 85% or more, the SoE underlines the value of these projects. The SoE may be used by those projects to help find alternative funding.
Excellent proposals
The SoE label also allows other funding bodies to take advantage of the Horizon 2020 evaluation process. National, regional and university-level schemes may be used to support MSCA proposals which have earned a Seal of Excellence.
The latest countries to set up schemes for the SoE are Germany and the Netherlands, bringing the total number of countries with such schemes up to 12.
Research funding
Funding for the German SoE holders comes from the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts. It aims to fund six fellows every year with the same allowance as MSCA.
The Dutch scheme is internal to Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and plans to fund four fellows per year.
Further reading
- Detailed SoE information specific to MSCA applicants is available from the same site.
- Researchers can take advantage of the network of National Contact Points for guidance and practical information on all aspects of participation in Horizon 2020 funding.
- Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts MSCA SoE information site (EN)
- The Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) grants and support page (EN)
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