MSCA Results Update – MSCA Staff Exchanges and MSCA COFUND

In May and June this year, results were announced for the MSCA Staff Exchanges and MSCA COFUND calls with some good news for applicants from Ireland.

The MSCA Staff Exchanges call promotes cooperation between academic and non-academic organisations in the EU and beyond and involves entities coming together to write a research project that is implemented through international and intersectoral staff exchanges (secondments). Research and innovation staff, including PhD students, who participate in Staff Exchanges, have the opportunity to travel abroad, enlarge their networks, exchange knowledge, carry out cutting-edge research, and gain new skills and competencies.

In the 2023 call, the European Research Executive Agency (REA) evaluated 229 Staff Exchanges proposals, with 73 selected for funding – a success rate at call level of 31.9%. Two projects coordinated from Ireland, and 11 participations from Irish based organisations, were selected for funding, with the total funding awarded to Irish based institutions just under €2m.

MSCA COFUND provides co-financing for postdoctoral or doctoral programmes which have leveraged other regional, national or international funding. It is a mono-beneficiary call and institutions applying for MSCA COFUND need to top up the EU contribution with their own funding sources. Through COFUND, organisations can create or enhance their own doctoral and postdoctoral programmes, with the goal of recruiting researchers and attracting international talent with the EU co-funding a significant share of their costs.

In the 2023 call, 102 COFUND proposals were evaluated by REA, with 27 projects selected for funding – a success rate at call level of 26.5%. Ireland has a strong track record of success with COFUND applications and to date 8 successful COFUND proposals under Horizon Europe have been selected for funding.  In the 2023 call, three IE proposals were selected for funding with a drawdown of €8.8 million.

Well done to all MSCA awardees and their supporters! With the release of all results from the 2023 MSCA Research and Innovation calls, the total drawdown for Ireland to date under the MSCA in Horizon Europe is €96.5m.  

Open and Upcoming MSCA calls

A number of MSCA calls are currently open:

The MSCA Staff Exchanges call will open on 19 September 2024 and will close on 05 February 2025.

We encourage all applicants coordinating proposals for MSCA collaborative projects to avail of Enterprise Ireland Coordinator Support grants – the deadline to apply for this support is 12 weeks before the call deadline. Interested applicants can contact us ([email protected]) and check our website for more details on the MSCA funding opportunities. You can also follow us on our X and LinkedIn social media channels.

MSCA Survey on Supervision Best Practices

The European Commission recently launched a survey designed to gather inspirational and best practice examples of supervision practices from across the MSCA community. The MSCA, as the EU’s flagship programme for the training and career development of researchers, promotes effective supervision, mentoring and appropriate career guidance and this survey is targeted at researchers and research support personnel who have been involved in MSCA projects. Examples gathered will be used to create an evidence-based guidance document that will support the existing MSCA guidelines on supervision. The deadline to complete the survey is 2nd September 2024. You can access the survey and more information here.

Resources and Supports 

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. Our supports include information sessions, tailored consultancy on large proposals coordinated from Ireland, proposal writing handbooks, workshops, a proposal pre-review service, and query support. 

Recent workshops included:

If you missed the above sessions and would like access to the recordings and slides, please contact [email protected]. For access to the latest MSCA Handbooks for Applicants, as well as previous webinars, please visit our resources webpages.

In a welcome development for participants currently participating in projects funded by the MSCA under Horizon Europe, the European Commission and REA have recently published revised information packages for fellows and staff members. These new guides provide important information on the rights and obligations of researchers and staff members and contain useful, hands-on information.