As we near the half-way point of Horizon Europe, it is a good time to pause and take stock of Ireland’s performance in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

The MSCA is the EU’s flagship programme for supporting researchers’ mobility, with a focus on their training, skills, and career development, through the implementation of excellent research and innovation projects.  

Following results from 2021 and 2022 calls, and only partial results from 2023 calls, researchers from organisations in Ireland have been awarded an impressive €85.6 million through the MSCA with Ireland widely viewed as a high-performing country in the programme. From a strategic perspective, this is a vital funding stream in Ireland supporting the development of highly skilled human capital, funding excellent bottom-up research across all disciplines and sectors and building strong international research partnerships. 

The bottom-up nature of the programme allows researchers and organisations to freely choose the topic of their research proposal according to their own needs. This is particularly important in the current landscape where there is often a greater focus on top-down, thematic research funding.

A further €11 million was awarded to applicants in Ireland through the 2023 Doctoral Networks call. The funding enables organisations across sectors based in Ireland to participate in 19 pan-European PhD training networks advancing the state of the art across a range of research disciplines and strengthening Ireland’s global reputation for research excellence and talent development.

2024 brings a new round of MSCA funding opportunities for organisations in Ireland. It is a busy spring with several MSCA calls opening, starting with the 2024 Postdoctoral Fellowships call which will open on 23 April (deadline of 11 September 2024). 

Proposals for the Postdoctoral Fellowship call are prepared by organisations from all sectors and disciplines, in collaboration with a pre-identified researcher. More information, including short case studies of successful MSCA-funded postdoctoral fellowships can be found on our website.  Interested applicants can access the recording of the Irish Marie Skłodowska-Curie Office’s (IMSCO) recent webinar on the call which includes case studies from both the supervisor and researcher perspectives. 

The 2024 schedule of calls brings a significant change in the timeline for the 2024 MSCA COFUND call. This will also open on 23 April but with a much earlier deadline of 26 September 2024! Organisations can apply to the COFUND call to seek co-financing from the EU for the delivery of PhD or postdoctoral training programmes which have leveraged other regional, national or international funding. When funded, the organisation establishes a COFUND training programme running an open call to fund individual PhD or postdoctoral fellowships. 

The level of co-financing available from the EU through the MSCA COFUND varies depending on the needs of the proposal, however, there is a maximum limit of €10 million per beneficiary per call. Applicants are free to choose the thematic area for their proposal and given the significant levels of EU funding available, MSCA COFUND is an important tool for organisations building capacity in strategically prioritised research areas.   

The month of April also sees the opening of the Coordination and Support Action, MSCA Feedback to Policy on 25 April (deadline of 03 September 2024). The CSA aims to strengthen thematic links between MSCA projects, increase the visibility of their contribution to key EU policy priorities and gather policy recommendations on how to maximise the programme’s impact.

And finally, later this spring, the 2024 Doctoral Networks call will open on 29 May with a deadline of 27 November 2024. The call is open to all disciplines and sectors and funds consortia of organisations (universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs, charities, etc.) to implement pan-European doctoral training programmes. More information on the call, including short case studies of successful networks from University of Galway and Munster Technological University can be found on our website.  

Interested applicants can register for the IMSCO informational webinar on the 2024 call which will take place at 11:00 (Irish time) on 08 May. 

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. 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 or check out this short video here.