Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, 2021-2027 : developing talents, advancing research.
Date: 2021-06-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Subjects: distribution of EU funding, education grant, organisation of research, postgraduate education, scientific profession, scientific research

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
2021 - 2027
Developing talents, 
advancing research

Under Pillar I of Horizon Europe, the MSCA are the 
European Union’s reference programme for doctoral 
education and postdoctoral training. They support 
researchers from all over the world, at all stages of 
their careers, with a focus on their training, skills and 
career development.

Under 
Horizon 2020 
(2014-2020), 
the MSCA:
Funded 1080 doctoral 
programmes, of which 
156 industrial doctoral 
programmes and 
76 joint doctorates

Since 1996

budget
14 billion €
researchers
140 000 
(39 000 PhDs)

Under Horizon Europe, 
the MSCA will:

Strengthen organisations 
The MSCA support excellent doctoral 
and postdoctoral programmes and 
collaborative projects worldwide, 
promoting structuring impact on 
organisations

Involved 4 700 
companies, of which 
2 200 SMEs

Involved 37% of 
researchers from 
non-EU countries 
and around 1300 
organisations 
from non-EU and 
non-associated 
countries

Horizon Europe 
(2021-2027)

budget

6.6 
billion €
researchers
65 000 
(25 000 PhDs)

Foster research and innovation 
beyond academia 
The MSCA boost ties between academia 
and other non-academic organisations 
with various incentives, increasing fellows’ 
exposure to other sectors

Build international links 
The MSCA are key in attracting talent to 
Europe, building international, strategic 
partnerships, and promoting global 
research mobility and science cooperation

Marie Skłodowska- Curie ActionsTowards a greener MSCA

The MSCA fund excellent projects in any research domain, including projects 
tackling climate and environmental-related challenges. The new MSCA 
Green Charter  encourages sustainable behaviours, research activities and 
management in line with the European Green Deal .

Excellent working conditions

The MSCA promote supportive environments for the researchers in line with the 
principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct 
for the Recruitment of Researchers. 
The new MSCA Guidelines on Supervision  promote effective supervision and 
adequate mentoring and career guidance for all fellows.

The MSCA have

5 main actions

Postdoctoral 
Fellowships
support researchers’ 
careers and foster excellence 
in research and innovation. 
Researchers holding a PhD can 
carry out their research activities, 
acquire new skills and develop their 
careers abroad, whilst developing 
competences in non-academic 
sectors and working 
within interdisciplinary teams.

Doctoral 
Networks
implement doctoral 
programmes (including joint 
doctorates and industrial doctorates) 
by international partnerships of 
organisations from different sectors. 
They train highly-skilled doctoral 
candidates, stimulate their creativity, 
enhance their innovation capacities 
and boost their employability 
in the long-term.

MSCA 

and Citizens
brings research and 
researchers closer 
to children, families 
and the public at 
large through the 
European Researchers’ 
Night - the annual 
research communication 
and promotion event 

taking place at the end of 
September across EU Member 

States and Horizon Europe 

Associated Countries.

Staff 
Exchanges
encourage short-term 
international and inter-
sectoral exchanges of research 
and innovation staff through 
sustainable, collaborative projects 
in Europe and beyond. By doing so, 
they enhance knowledge and skills 
transfer and increase organisations’ 
research and innovation capacities.

COFUND

co-finances regional, 
national and 
international doctoral 
and postdoctoral 
programmes 
for researchers’ 
training and career 
development. The 
COFUND action spreads 
MSCA’s best practices by 
setting high standards and 
excellent working conditions, 

and boosts training and 
international, interdisciplinary 

and inter-sectoral mobility.

Benefits of MSCA:

for European 
Research and 
Innovation

for researchers

 ● Scientific excellence promoted 

in all countries 

for organisations

 ● New knowledge and skills 
in and outside academia 

 ● Attract and retain talents 

in Europe 

 ● Increased career prospects 

 ● High quality R&I for Europe’s 

and employability 

sustainable growth 

 ● Innovation-oriented mind-
set, to convert ideas into 
products and services 

 ● Networking and increased 

visibility in the European 
R&I community 

 ● Increased strategic 

cooperation and brain 
circulation between countries, 
disciplines and sectors 

 ● New links between research, 

industry and society 

 ● International, interdisciplinary 
and inter-sectoral experience 
and exposure 

 ● Stronger European 
Research Area (ERA)

 ● Access to leading 
organisations and 
their teams

 ● High-quality research 

training and supervision 
offered

 ● Build up strong research and 
innovation partnerships

 ● Strengthened 

research capacity

 ● Improved human resources 

and working conditions to 
attract the best researchers

 ● Sustainable knowledge 
transfer and new 
international and inter-
sectoral collaborations

 ● Enhanced global visibility 

and attractiveness

Former MSCA fellow 
wins a Nobel Prize!

In 2020, MSCA alumna Emmanuelle Charpentier  
received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together 
with Jennifer A. Doudna ‘for the development of a 
method for genome editing’. Other MSCA fellows 
and supervisors have also won prestigious awards, 
including 9 Nobel Prizes and 1 Oscar.

Want to know more?

Check the Marie Skłodowska-Curie 
Actions’ website  to explore all 
the opportunities offered by the 
programme

Euraxess  provides support 
services to professional researchers, 
including hosting offers, PhD and 
postdoctoral job postings funded 
by the MSCA

The European Research Executive 
Agency  (REA) manages the 
MSCA on behalf of the European 
Commission

MSCA National Contact Points  
provide information about the 
programme and help applicants 
develop their projects

The Marie Curie Alumni Association  
is the programme’s global network 
of former MSCA fellows, with an 
increasing community of over 
20 000 members

Follow us on:

  @MSCActions 

  Marie.Curie.Actions

© European Union, 2021 
All images: © European Union, 2021 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) — image sources: iStockphoto.com / Unsplash
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021
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ISBN 978-92-76-38661-2  doi: 10.2766/128028  NC-02-21-744-EN-N