Published: 19 Sep 2024

MSCA opens €99.5m call for Staff Exchanges

The Staff Exchanges action offers a unique opportunity to promote the transfer of knowledge and innovation through international research collaborations.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges 2024 call is open as of today. The deadline to submit proposals is 5 February 2025.

The European Commission will allocate €99.5 million to fund around 90 projects promoting cooperation between organisations in the EU and around the globe in research and innovation.

Staff Exchanges: Quick Application Guide

About Staff Exchanges

MSCA Staff Exchanges promote innovative international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in research and innovation through exchanging staff and sharing knowledge and ideas at all stages of the innovation chain. The scheme is part of Horizon Europe, the EU’s programme for research and innovation.

The scheme fosters a shared culture of research and innovation that welcomes and rewards creativity and entrepreneurship and helps turn ideas into innovative products, services, or processes.

Staff Exchanges are open to all domains of research and innovation, chosen freely by the applicants, and have a strong focus in interdisciplinary, international and intersectoral cooperation.

Staff Exchanges

support collaborative projects addressing this triple dimension and which span all research fields
provide specific opportunities to promote international cooperation between the academic and non-academic spheres

Staff secondments

Secondments are the main method to foster cooperation among organisations participating in Staff Exchanges. Selected projects exchange and train researchers and innovators, as well as administrative, technical or managerial staff involved in research activities.

Participants go abroad for up to 12 months. By working at other organisations they They gain new skills and competencies, expand their networks, exchange knowledge, and carry out cutting-edge research.

Increased funding

The EU grant for MSCA Staff Exchanges projects is in the form of unit costs for the mobility of staff. It contributes to the following expenses

travel, accommodation and subsistence allowances
research, training, transfer of knowledge, networking and management costs

Applicants for the 2024 call will benefit from the increased allowance, which has been boosted from 4,600 euros to 5,010 euros per month for each staff member mobilised. The total budget for the call has expanded by 20%, reaching 99.5 million euros.

International consortia

Staff Exchanges enable organisations to build international partnerships with other leading organisations. They can strengthen long-term collaboration and increase their capacities.

Staff Exchanges projects are highly international, intersectoral projects, implemented by consortia involving several organisations from the EU, non-EU countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme and very often organisations from other non-EU countries (third countries).

Who can apply?

To be eligible, consortia must consist of at least three organisations from three different countries. Two of them must be located in different EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries. In addition, organisations from any country in the world can participate.

Organisations from all socioeconomic sectors in any country can apply to Staff Exchanges. This includes organisations such as

higher education institutions
research institutions and infrastructures
private sector organisations, including industry, businesses, and small and medium-sized enterprises
public sector organisations, including national, regional, and local governments, agencies, and museums
other socio-economic actors, including non-governmental organisations, charities, etc.

Participating organisations host and train seconded staff from other project partners in their own premises, and second staff abroad to other organisations in the consortium. However, the participation setup differs depending on where the organisation is based.

Eligibility by country

Organisations based in EU Member States and countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme can participate as beneficiaries. This means they are automatically eligible for funding and can second, host, and train staff members.

As of January 2024, the United Kingdom is associated to the Horizon Europe programme. United Kingdom organisations will therefore be able to apply and receive funding under this year’s call under the same conditions as EU Member States and other countries associated to Horizon Europe. Historically, the participation of organisations based in the United Kigdom was significant under Horizon 2020, accounting for almost 15% of all participations.

Organisations based in all other non-EU countries (third countries) can participate as associated partners.

Low and middle-income third countries can second their staff, and host and train seconded staff from other partners in EU Member States and countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme, paid for by the project’s grant (see specific conditions in the MSCA Work Programme)
Organisations based in high-income third countries can host and train seconded staff from other partners in EU Member States and countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme as part of the project costs, but may only second their staff members at their own expenses. Some countries such as Japan, Canada, Brazil and recently India have set up complementary funding mechanisms for this purpose. Interested organisations should refer to the relevant national authorities.

If you are not sure about your country’s status, have a look at the list of participating countries to Horizon Europe.

Attend the information days

The European Research Executive Agency (REA) will be organising an information day for potential applicants on 15 November 2024.

Applicants can also contact MSCA National Contact Points and Euraxess hubs in their area to find more about the information days organised in your country or region.

Indicative timeline

19 September 2024: opening of the call for proposals
15 November 2024: information day for applicants organised by the European Research Executive Agency
5 February 2025: deadline to submit proposals
June 2025: notification of call results to applicants
July 2025: grant agreement signature for successful projects
November 2025: first EU-funded projects start