The recent results show strong engagement from across sectors and disciplines. With 38 Postdoctoral Fellowships selected for funding, and participation in 21 successful pan-European Doctoral Networks, Ireland’s early-career research talent base is strengthened by the mobility of world-class researchers into Irish organisations.

The MSCA fund innovative research training projects, across all disciplines, involving career development and knowledge-exchange opportunities through international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility of researchers. Both the research and innovation activities, and the highly skilled human capital, supported by the MSCA, greatly contribute to a vibrant, broad-based research system in Ireland and across Europe. Furthermore, an attractive feature of the MSCA is its bottom-up nature, meaning that the researcher/organisation applying chooses the topic of their research proposal according to their needs – a valuable tool for building a research career or addressing a research problem within an organisation.   

The 2023 round of MSCA calls has kicked off with the launch of a new Coordination and Support Action, MSCA Feedback to Policy. This is a pilot call aiming to produce an overview of the MSCA-funded research portfolio, make stronger thematic links between MSCA projects and the EU Missions and societal challenges, raise visibility of the impact of MSCA projects on ERA priority areas and gather stakeholders’ feedback on ways to maximise the MSCA impact. The Commission expects to fund one proposal (up to €2 million) and the call deadline is 06 June 2023.

The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 call opened on 12 April (call deadline: 13 September 2023). This programme funds postdoctoral researchers from all over the world, to undergo an excellent research project with a strong focus on training, skills, and career development through international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral mobility. Organisations from all sectors and disciplines can apply to the call with a pre-identified researcher. Interested applicants can access the recording of the Irish Marie Skłodowska-Curie Office’s (IMSCO) recent informational webinar. 

The next MSCA call to open is the popular Doctoral Networks on 30 May (call deadline: 28 November 2023). The call is open to all disciplines and sectors and funds consortia of organisations (universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs, charities, etc.) to implement doctoral training programmes. The objective of these networks is to train highly skilled doctoral candidates, stimulate their creativity, enhance their innovation capacities, and boost their employability in the long-term. Interested applicants can register for the IMSCO informational webinar on the 2023 call which will take place at 11:00 (Irish time) on 26 April. 

The IMSCO is based within the Irish Universities Association and operated under a joint partnership with the Irish Research Council. The Office offers a range of supports to help Ireland-based organisations, across all sectors and disciplines, apply for MSCA funding including information sessions, tailored consultancy on large proposals coordinated from Ireland, proposal writing handbooks, workshops, and a proposal pre-review service. Interested applicants can get in contact with us using the details below. 

For more information visit the Irish Marie Skłodowska-Curie Office website, email us and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.