Marie Sklodowska-Curie - Postdoctoral Fellowships

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to excellent researchers of any nationality, including researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, researchers who are displaced by conflict as well as researchers with high potential aiming for a career restart in research.  Applications will be made jointly by the researcher together with a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector.

Applicants must have been awarded their doctoral degree within 8 years prior to the deadline of the call (a successfully defended PhD thesis at the deadline is eligible). Exceptions: career breaks can expand the eligibility window.

Postdoctoral Fellowships either can take place in Europe (i.e. in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country like Norway) or in a Third Country not associated to Horizon Europe (e.g. USA):

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships: Fellows (any nationality) either come to Europe from any country in the world or move within Europe for a project. The standard duration of these fellowships must be between 12 and 24 months.
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships: European nationals or long-term residents (min. 5 years) who wish to engage in projects with organisations outside Europe. 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.

"Third country" in Horizon Europe: A country that is not a member of the European Union as well as a country or territory whose citizens do not enjoy the European Union right to free movement as defined in Art. 2(5) of the Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code)

Fellowships may be prolonged up to 6 months through a placement in the non-academic sector at the end of the project.

! Mobility rule: Applicants 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.

Open from: 9 April 2025; Deadline date: 10 September 2025 17:00:00 Brussels time

The 2025-call has not been announced yet. This is a link to the previous call

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01)

You will also find information on the upcoming 2025-call in the MSCA Work Programme 2023-2025.

Application:

• HE-MSCA-PF Guide for Applicants
• Standard application form (HE MSCA PF)
• Handbook for MSCA PF call 2024 - MSCA-NET (to be updated when the 2025-handbook launches)

More guides from MSCA/EC:

• Information note for Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellows in Postdoctoral Fellowships: Project implementation, Fellow Point-of-View
• MSCA Green Charter: Sustainable implementation of research activities
• MSCA Guidelines on Supervision: For supervisors, the host institution and Fellows
• Financial Guide MSCA Actions: Project implementation, Institutions&Hosts Point-of-View
• Information package for Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellows - Publications Office of the EU

If you are a UiB employee interested in the scheme, please take contact with your local research advisor for more information.

If you are not employed at UiB and interested to develop a project with UiB as host institution, please take contact with the Local Contact Point. You are also encouraged to take contact directly with relevant researchers, find out more here.

Webinars and online training

UiB offers an annual writing class and ongoing proposal support towards the deadline. The online training workshop of 2025 will take place on 27.-28. May. To read more and sign up for the webinar, please visit the event site: 

The Research Council of Norway (RCN) held a webinar for the 2024-call on 15 April, providing applicants with helpful tips and advice on preparing the proposal, even featuring a successful UiB MSCA postdoctoral fellow. You can view the webinar on their webpage: Recording of the 2024 MSCA-PF webinar. If a similar webinar will find place in 2025, it will be announced on the RCN webpage: Forskningsrådets arrangementer

IMPORTANT NOTE: Preparing a competitive application for the MSCA PF scheme takes time. Contact with a supervisor should be established early, i.e. 4-6 months before the deadline. UiB's administrative support given to your application is dependent on capacity - please be out early!

Application with UiB as host:

• you need authorization from you UiB host department before you can start preparing the proposal. Please contact the research advisor or head of administration at the relevant UiB Department. Get help from your supervisor.
• check (via your supervisor) if you are eligible for project establishment support (to be changed in 2025)

Associated Partners in MSCA-PF:

• Hosts of the outgoing phase of a Global Fellowship and the (non-academic) host of a placement must register as Associated Partner in Form A of the proposal, and must submit a Letter of Committment. They are not beneficiaries to the Action. IMPORTANT: Letters must be signed on suitable level - this can take time. Make sure to get signatures early.
• The host of the outgoing phase in a Global Fellowship can conclude an additional employment contract with the researcher to ensure adequate medical/social insurance in the outgoing country.
• Hosts of normal secondments do not need to register as Associated Partner and do not have to send a letter.

Get to know current researchers at UiB who hold a MSCA fellowship.