The goal of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will be open to excellent researchers of any nationality. The scheme also encourages researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector and 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 in research. 

Through the implementation of an original and personalised research project, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships aim to foster excellence through training and mobility and to equip researchers with new skills and competences in order to identify solutions to current and future challenges. Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to engage with society at large to make the results of their research visible to citizens and to involve citizens, civil society and end-users in co-creation of research content when relevant. 

Expected impact:

Proposals under this Action should contribute to the following expected impacts:

  • Enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and wishing to diversify their individual competences and skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility while implementing excellent research projects across all sectors of research;
  • Strengthen Europe's human capital base in R&I with better trained, innovative and entrepreneurial researchers;
  • Enhance the quality of R&I contributing to Europe's competitiveness and growth;
  • Contribute to Europe's attractiveness as a leading destination for R&I and for good working conditions of researchers;
  • Facilitate knowledge transfer and brain circulation across the European Research Area (ERA);
  • Foster the culture of open science, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Expected Outcome: 

For supported postdoctoral fellows;

  • Increased set of research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects of MSCA postdoctoral fellows within academia and beyond; 
  • New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary experience; 
  • Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations;

  • Increased alignment of working conditions for researchers in accordance with the principles set out in the European Charter for Researchers;
  • Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training and supervision; 
  • Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);
  • Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations; better transfer of knowledge;
  • Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope:

Fellowships will be provided to excellent researchers, undertaking international mobility either to or between EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, as well as to non-associated Third Countries. Applications will be made jointly by the researcher and a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector.

Postdoctoral Fellowships either can take place in Europe (i.e. in an EU Member State1 or a Horizon Europe Associated Country2) or in a Third Country3 not associated to Horizon Europe:

  • European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe  (including Turkey) from any country in the world or moving within Europe. The standard duration of these fellowships must be between 12 and 24 months.

  • Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries (like Turkiye). These fellowships require an outgoing phase of minimum 12 and maximum 24 months in a non-associated Third Country, and a mandatory 12-month return phase to a host organisation based in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.

If requested and justified in the proposal, an additional period of up to six months at the end of the project can be awarded to researchers who will spend that period in a non-academic organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Eligibility Conditions:

Given the specific nature of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, the following exceptions and additional eligibility criteria apply:

  • All domains of research and technological development are eligible for funding (including areas of research covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025).

  • Proposals involving the same recruiting organisation (and for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships also the associated partner hosting the outgoing phase) and individual researcher submitted to the previous call of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships under Horizon Europe and having received a score of less than 70% must not be resubmitted the following year.

  • Only one proposal per individual researcher can be submitted. In case of several proposals involving the same individual researcher, only the last submitted one will be considered eligible.

  • If proposals with the same research objectives and work plan are submitted for different researchers, only the first submitted one will be considered eligible.

  • Being postdoctoral researcher: Supported fellows must be postdoctoral researchers at the date of the call deadline, i.e. in a possession of a doctoral degree. Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered as postdoctoral researchers and will be considered eligible to apply. The successful defence must be unconditional (no further requirements/corrections that need to be addressed) and take place before the call deadline. Supporting documentation may be requested. 

  • 8 years experince in research: AAt the call deadline, supported researchers must have a maximum of 8 years fulltime equivalent experience in research, measured from the date of award of the doctoral degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks (e.g. due to parental leave), will not count towards the amount of research experience. For nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to pursue their research career in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, years of experience in research in third countries will not be considered in the above maximum. 

  • Mobility rule: Recruited researchers must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not  have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline. 

    • Researchers wishing to reintegrate from a third country must either be based in a third country at the call deadline, or have moved directly from a third country to an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country within the last 12 months before the call deadline.

    • For 'International European Research Organisations' (IERO), 'international organisations', or entities created under Union law, the researchers must not have spent more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline, in the same appointing organisation.

    • Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account.

  • Supported researchers can be of any nationality. However, researchers going to a third country (‘Global Postdoctoral Fellowship) or researchers who wish to reintegrate to Europe, must be nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Long-term residence means a period of legal and continuous residence within EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries of at least five consecutive years. Periods of absence from the territory of the EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country will be taken into account for the calculation of this period where they are shorter than six consecutive months and do not exceed in total ten months within this period. 

Participating Organisations:

  • Applications must be submitted by a single independent legal entity, established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. This is a mono-beneficiary action.

  • The associated partner hosting the outgoing phase in Global Postdoctoral Fellowships must include a letter of commitment in the proposal to ensure their active participation in the action.

  • Applications in the research areas of research covered by the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025 must be submitted by a single independent legal entity, established in an EU Member State or a country associated to the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025. Nuclear-related proposals submitted by entities established in other countries will be ineligible.

  • Affiliated entities are not allowed to participate as they cannot claim costs in MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships.

  • International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country will be deemed to be established in this Member State or Associated Country.

  • The beneficiary must employ and supervise the researcher during the action.

Secondments:

Researchers receiving a Postdoctoral Fellowship may opt to include a secondment phase, within the overall duration of their fellowship in any country worldwide. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods.

For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, secondments cannot exceed one third of the standard fellowship duration (excluding from the duration of the action any additional period for a non-academic placement) and should be in line with the project objectives, adding significant value and impact to the fellowship.

For Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, optional secondments are permitted for up to one third of the outgoing phase. A maximum of three months of such secondments can be spent at the start of the project at the beneficiary (or associated partners linked to the beneficiary), allowing the researcher to spend time there before going to the associated partner in the Third Country. This period of maximum three months will be considered as part of the outgoing phase. Secondments cannot take place during the mandatory twelve-month return period to the host organisation in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. 
 

Placements in the non-academic sector:

Postdoctoral Fellowships can provide an additional period of up to six months to support researchers opting for a placement at the end of the project to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. While this possibility is also available to fellows recruited in the non-academic sector, such a placement must be implemented at a different non-academic host organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. 

The request for such a non-academic placement must be an integral part of the proposal, explaining the added-value for the project and for the career development of the researcher, and will be subject to evaluation. This incentive aims at promoting career moves between sectors and organisations and thereby stimulate innovation and knowledge transfer while expanding career opportunities for researchers. If the placement does not meet the requirements (taking place in an academic organisation or in a Third Country), the proposal will be evaluated without taking into account the placement. This might affect the final score. 

European Research Area - ERA Fellowships:

The ERA Fellowships implemented through Work Programme Annex 11, Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area, provide specific support to researchers to undertake their fellowship in a widening country4 . This will help spread excellence and contribute to fostering balanced brain circulation in widening countries. (Türkiye is counted as Widening Country as well.)

Scope: Fellowships should be provided to excellent researchers, undertaking cross-border mobility. Applications must be made jointly by the researcher together with a legal entity in the academic or non-academic sector located in a Widening Country. 

ERA Fellowships should take place in a Widening Country. Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to the EU from any country in the world or moving within the EU to a Widening Country. 

In order to apply for the ERA Fellowships call, applicants must submit their proposal to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025. To be eligible to this call the host organisation must be located in an eligible Widening country. The application to the (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 will be automatically resubmitted to this call in case the proposal fails to reach an adequate place in the ranking to be funded. This simplified submission procedure to the ERA Fellowships call presents applicants moving to Widening countries with an additional funding opportunity but there is the possibility to opt out during the application stage. 

The proposals submitted under the ERA Fellowships must fulfil all the admissibility and eligibility conditions of the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 and pass all the thresholds for that call. 

ERA Fellowships will be implemented applying the award criteria, scoring and threshold for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions. The ranking order for the ERA Fellowships call will follow the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 call scores and evaluation procedure and proposals will also retain the scores and comments included in the Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) of this call. The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 model grant agreement will be used to the ERA Fellowships. 

Applicants can only be considered for this additional funding opportunity by ticking "YES" to the question "Do you wish to participate to the ERA Postdoctoral Fellowships and thus increase your chances of being funded?" in the application form. Applicants who do not reply, or tick "No" to the above question, will not be considered for the ERA-PF call (but will be evaluated and ranked under the MSCA-PF call, if eligible). The only implementation difference with MSCA-PF is that researchers supported by the ERA Fellowships will not formally be considered as MSCA fellows. Host organisations from Widening Countries will be informed simultaneously about the results of the evaluation for both MSCA-PF and the ERA-PF call, i.e. all applicants eligible for transfer to the ERA-PF call will receive a standard MSCA-PF evaluation result letter and an attached ERA-PF evaluation result letter. There will be a single centralised evaluation review procedure for both MSCA-PF and ERA-PF.

Budget Calculation:

The EU contribution for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will take the form of unit contributions, as stipulated in Decision of 11 March 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions and unit contributions for Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

The following budget categories apply:
 

Financial Contribution

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

(MSCA - PF)

Contributions for the recruited researcher
(per person-month)		Institutional unit contributions
(per person-month)

 

Living 
allowance

 

 

Mobility 
allowance

 

Family AllowanceResearch, training and networking costsManagement and indirect costs
EUR 5.990 EUR 710 EUR 660 EUR 1000 EUR 650 

 

A country correction coefficient applies to the living allowance in order to ensure equal treatment and purchasing power parity for all researchers. For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, this coefficient is the one applicable to the country of the beneficiary. For the Global Postdoctoral Fellowships two different country correction coefficients apply: 

      - For the outgoing phase: the coefficient of the country where the postdoctoral researcher is hosted (i.e. the country of the associated partner hosting the outgoing phase);

       - For the return phase: the coefficient of the country where the postdoctoral researcher returns to (i.e. the country of the beneficiary).

 

  • Living Allowance: The beneficiary must pay to the postdoctoral researcher at least the amount of the living allowance (minus all compulsory deductions under national legislation). A top-up may be paid to the researcher in order to complement this contribution. The living allowance is a gross amount, including compulsory deductions under national law, such as employer and employee social security contributions and direct taxes.

  • Mobility Allowance: In addition to the living allowance, the postdoctoral researcher must receive a mobility allowance. This allowance covers his/her additional, private mobility-related costs (e.g. travel and accommodation costs), not professional costs under the action, which are covered by the research, training and networking contribution.

  • Family Allowance: If the postdoctoral researcher has or acquires family obligations during the action duration, i.e. has persons linked to him/her by (i) marriage, or (ii) a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the legislation of the country or region where this relationship was formalised; or (iii) dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher, the family allowance must be paid to him/her as well.

  • The long-term leave allowance: This allowance contributes to the personnel costs incurred by the beneficiary in case of the researcher’s leave, including maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave, longer than 30 consecutive days.

  • The special needs allowance: This allowance contributes to the additional costs for the acquisition of special needs items and services for researchers with disabilities, whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments are certified by a competent national authority, and of such nature that their participation in the action may not be possible without them (e.g. assistance by third persons, adaptation of work environment, additional travel/transportation costs). These special needs items or services must not have been funded from another source (e.g. social security or health insurance). Both long-term leave and special needs allowances should be requested when the need arises.

  • The research, training and networking contribution: This should cover, for example, costs for training and networking activities that contribute directly to the researchers’ career development (e.g. participation in conferences, trips related to work on the action, training, language courses, seminars, lab material, books, library records, publication costs), research expenses, visa-related fees and travel expenses, additional costs arising from optional secondments (e.g. travel and accommodation costs).

  • The management and indirect contribution: This contribution should cover the beneficiary’s additional costs in connection with the action (e.g. personnel costs for project management, indirect costs). 

 

Part-time Work Opportunity:

The above rates apply to postdoctoral researchers devoting themselves to their project on a full-time basis. Researchers may, in agreement with the supervisor and beneficiary and with prior approval by the granting authority, implement their project on a part-time basis. In addition to the possibility to request part-time work for personal or family reasons, postdoctoral fellows may opt to work part-time in order to pursue supplementary activities. These might include creating a company, pursuing another research project86, or engaging in advanced studies not related to the MSCA grant. Part-time arrangements are not allowed  during the outgoing phase of the Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. Any supplementary activities carried out part-time in parallel with the MSCA action must be agreed upon by the researcher and the beneficiary and approved by the granting authority.

If the action is implemented on a part-time basis, the researcher must dedicate at least 50% of his/her working time to the action funded by the MSCA. The beneficiary should report costs as pro rata of the applicable full-time unit contributions.

Seal of Excellence:

Seals of Excellence will be awarded to applications with a total score equal to or higher than 85%, but which cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call.

 

Current Call Information

2024 call was closed at 11 September 2024. 

2025 Call for Proposals Opening Date and Deadline:

Opening     : 9 April 2025
Deadline     : 10 September 2025 (at 17:00 Brussels time)

Budget        : 404 million Euro

European and Global Postdoctoral Fellowships will have separate budgets. The distribution of respective available funds will be proportional to the number of eligible proposals received in each main evaluation panel. If the budget allocated to any panel exceeds the requirements of all proposals positively evaluated in that panel, the excess budget will be reallocated to the other panels based on the distribution as above. Equally, if the allocated funding to a panel is insufficient to fund the highest ranked proposal in that panel, the necessary budget will be transferred from the other panels based on the distribution as above, in order to ensure that the highest ranked proposal can be funded. In order to ensure budget optimisation and an equitable success rate across panels, the excess budget remaining after the initial allocation of funding to the proposals in the panels may be transferred between panels.
 

2024 call is closed by 11 September 2024. The European Research Executive Agency received 10,360 proposals. By comparison, 8,039 proposals were submitted in 2023. This represents an increase of 29%. 

Through this call, the European Commission is expected to fund about 1,700 projects, with an indicative budget of €417.2 million. This represents an increase of 60% of the budget compared to the last call.

This year’s submitted proposals are distributed as follows 

  • European fellowships: 9,303 proposals 
  • Global fellowships: 1,057 proposals 

 

Documents Needed for the Call for Proposals:

How to prepare and submit your proposal?:

In Postdoctoral Fellowships, proposals will be evaluated by one of eight 'main evaluation panels': Chemistry (CHE), Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC), Economic Sciences (ECO), Information Science and Engineering (ENG), Environment and Geosciences (ENV), Life Sciences (LIF), Mathematics (MAT), Physics (PHY). Each panel will establish two ranked lists, one for European and one for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships.

The page limit of the application is 10 pages (excluding annexes).

Please use Funding & Tenders Portal to submit your proposal to the European Commission. For any inquiries please contact MSCA National Contact Points for Turkey via ncpmobility@tubitak.gov.tr 

Partner Search:

 

TÜBİTAK MSCA PF Pre-evaluation Support Programme:

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships Pre-evaluation Support aims to provide pre-evaluation support by consultant/consulting company for projects that will be submitted to MSCA PF Call before projects submitted.

Pre-evaluation support may include reading and evaluation of MSCA PF proposal (written by applicant) by consultant / consulting company, editing, revising and consultancy during application process.

MSCA PF Pre-Evaluation Support is for the researchers who have made their project proposals ready to present to the European Commission. Researchers who will apply to MSCA PF Fellowship and undertake in their project proposal to perform 1 year of their project in Türkiye can benefit from the support. In other words, the applicants leading out of Europe and coming back to Türkiye for at least 12 months (Global Fellowship) and the applicants coming to Türkiye from abroad for the duration of 12-24 month are considered for evaluation. The application of researchers who apply to go to any institution in Europe (since conditions of return are not met) are not accepted.

You can apply TUBITAK for this support programme from the opening date of 2025 call. For further details please click.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Check the "Topic Related FAQ" section on "Funding & Tender Opportunities" portal for your MSCA-PF related questions.

Also MSCA-Net project blog is useful, please click.

Contact Details: 

For any inquiries please contact MSCA National Contact Points for Türkiye via ncpmobility@tubitak.gov.tr 

 

Footnotes:

  1. To see the EU Member States please click.

  2. To see the 'Horizon Europe Associated Countries' please click. 

  3. Third Countries: Countries other than the EU member states and Horizon Europe Associated Countries would be counted as Third Countries. (like USA, Canada, Japan etc.) 

  4. Türkiye is a Widening Countries in Horizon Europe. Other than Türkiye; Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and all Associated Countries with equivalent characteristics in terms of R&I performance and the Outermost Regions (defined in Art. 349 TFEU).