The Programme

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions for Doctoral candidates

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fund excellent research and innovation and equip researchers at all stages of their career with new knowledge and skills, through mobility across borders and exposure to different sectors and disciplines. The MSCA help build Europe’s capacity for research and innovation by investing in the long-term careers of excellent researchers.

The MSCA also fund the development of excellent doctoral and postdoctoral training programmes and collaborative research projects worldwide. By doing so, they achieve a structuring impact on higher education institutions, research centres and non-academic organisations.

The MSCA promote excellence and set standards for high-quality researcher education and training in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers.

Objective of Doctoral Networks

The objective of Doctoral Networks is to implement doctoral programmes by partnerships of organisations from different sectors across Europe and beyond to train highly skilled doctoral candidates, stimulate their creativity, enhance their innovation capacities and boost their employability in the long-term.

Types of Doctoral Networks

Doctoral Networks implement doctoral programmes, by partnerships of universities, research institutions and infrastructures, businesses including SMEs, and other socio-economic actors from different countries across Europe and beyond. These doctoral programmes will respond to well-identified needs in various research and innovation areas, expose the researchers to the academic and non-academic sectors, and offer research training, as well as transferable skills and competences relevant for innovation and long-term employability.

What does the funding cover?

All areas of research may be funded and Doctoral Networks can last for up to 4 years (up to 5 years in the case of Joint Doctorate projects). The duration of each fellowship is between 3 and 36 months (between 3 and 48 months in the case of Joint Doctorate fellowships).

Researchers funded by Doctoral Networks must not have a doctoral degree at the date of their recruitment can be of any nationality should be enrolled in a doctoral programme during the project should spend at least 50% of their time outside academia, for Industrial Doctorates should comply with the mobility rules: in general, they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organisation for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.

The EU provides support for each recruited researcher in the form of

  • a living allowance
  • a mobility allowance
  • if applicable, family, long-term leave and special needs allowances

 

In addition, funding is provided for

  • research, training and networking activities
  • management and indirect costs1