Excellent Science

Dal 1996, le Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) rappresentano il principale ​​programma di riferimento dell’Unione europea per la formazione dottorale e post-dottorato.

Le MSCA si focalizzano sull’eccellenza sotto vari aspetti: non solo sui singoli ricercatori, sulle collaborazioni e sullo scambio di conoscenza, ma anche sulle metodologie, sulla ricerca, sulla formazione e sulla supervisione.

Le MSCA si basano sul principio della mobilità fisica: i ricercatori che ricevono il finanziamento devono spostarsi da un Paese ad un altro per acquisire nuove conoscenze e competenze per poter sviluppare la loro carriera di ricerca. Con le MSCA, i ricercatori sono inoltre fortemente incoraggiati a spostarsi tra diversi settori e discipline.

Le MSCA si basano su un approccio bottom-up, ossia sono aperte a tutti i settori della ricerca e dell’innovazione e i temi sono scelti liberamente dai ricercatori.

In Horizon Europe le diverse Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions sono :

– MSCA Doctoral Networks: formare dottorandi innovativi, creativi e imprenditoriali in grado di affrontare le sfide attuali e future.

– MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships: migliorare il potenziale creativo e innovativo dei ricercatori in possesso di un dottorato di ricerca e di far acquisire nuove competenze attraverso una mobilità internazionale, interdisciplinare e intersettoriale.

– MSCA Staff Exchanges: promuovere collaborazioni internazionali, intersettoriali e interdisciplinare nella ricerca e nell’innovazione attraverso lo scambio di personale e la condivisione di conoscenze e di buone pratiche.

– MSCA COFUND: cofinanziare nuovi o esistenti programmi di dottorato e programmi di borse post-doc a livello nazionale, regionale o internazionale

– MSCA and Citizens: avvicinare la ricerca e i ricercatori al grande pubblico, per aumentare la consapevolezza dell’importanza della ricerca e dell’innovazione.

6,603 Miliardi €

Angelo D’Agostino APRE

Marco Ferraro APRE

Gennaio 2026:

Servizio prescreening B1

Per le diverse Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), il Team Tematico MSCA offre un servizio gratuito di prescreening, riservato ai Beneficiari (entità legali) con sede in Italia.

Il prescreening può essere richiesto una sola volta per ciascuna proposta (Part B1) in versione definitiva.

Non verranno prese in considerazione proposte incomplete o non conformi alle indicazioni formali contenute nel template ufficiale della Commissione europea (ad esempio: proposte nella call MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships che superino il limite di 10 pagine, sezioni incomplete o mancanti, uso di font o formattazioni di pagina non consentiti, mancato utilizzo del template ufficiale, ecc.).

Ai fini del prescreening, è obbligatorio inviare la Part B1 utilizzando esclusivamente il template ufficiale disponibile sul Funding and Tenders Portal, accessibile dopo aver cliccato su “Start submission”. Di seguito sono riportati i link alle pagine dei bandi, dalle quali è possibile scaricare il template ufficiale in formato Word:

– MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026

– MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026

– MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026

– MSCA COFUND 2026

Il template ufficiale della Commissione europea deve essere utilizzato senza modificare i titoli delle sezioni, dei paragrafi e delle intestazioni.

In caso di resubmission, è obbligatorio utilizzare l’ultima versione disponibile del template.

Si precisa inoltre che il Team Tematico MSCA non interviene sugli aspetti scientifici dell’idea progettuale.

Per usufruire del servizio, è necessario inviare la versione completa e finale della Part B1 all’indirizzo msca@apre.it, nel rispetto delle scadenze interne indicate, da considerarsi improrogabili. Non verranno accettate proposte che non rispettino tali requisiti o che pervengano oltre le ore 17:00 nelle date indicate.

Scadenze per prescreening APRE

– MSCA COFUND 2026: 6 marzo, ore 17:00

– MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026: 13 marzo, ore 17:00

– MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026: 31 luglio, ore 17:00

– MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026: 23 ottobre, ore 17:00

English version for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) applicants If you are a postdoctoral researcher submitting an MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026 proposal with an Italian host institution (beneficiary), please note that the MSCA Thematic Team offers a free prescreening service. The prescreening may be requested only once per proposal and applies exclusively to the final version of Part B1. Incomplete proposals or proposals that do not comply with the formal requirements set out in the official European Commission template will not be considered. This includes, for example: proposals exceeding the 10-page limit, incomplete or missing sections, use of non-permitted fonts or page formatting, failure to use the official template, etc. For prescreening purposes, it is mandatory to submit Part B1 using exclusively the official template available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, which can be accessed after clicking on “Start submission”. The official template in Word format can be downloaded here: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026 The official European Commission template must be used without modifying the titles of sections, paragraphs, or headings. In the case of a resubmission, the latest available version of the template must be used. Please note that the MSCA Thematic Team does not intervene in the scientific content of the project idea. To benefit from the service, applicants must send the complete and final version of Part B1 to msca@apre.it no later than 5:00 p.m. CEST on 31 July 2026. Proposals that do not meet these requirements or that are received after 5:00 pm. on the indicated deadline will not be accepted.

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Novembre 2024:

I National Contact Point MSCA italiani portano all’attenzione della comunità scientifica italiana di alcuni obblighi contrattuali richiesti dalla Commissione europea.

THE MSCA REQUIREMENTS
According to Article 6.2 HE Unit MGA, in MSCA-Doctoral Networks (DN) Actions (exactly like under the H2020 ITN framework), beneficiaries must recruit the researchers under an employment contract or equivalent direct contract which would confer similar benefits and social security coverage. The HE MSCA Financial Guide (similar to the H2020 Annotated Model Grant Agreement) specifies that these benefits and social security coverage include:

– sickness, parental, unemployment and invalidity benefits

– pension rights and

– benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases.

If national law prohibits this possibility (hence prevents the beneficiaries from recruiting researchers under an employment contract/equivalent direct contract) beneficiaries may, exceptionally, and subject to the granting authority’s prior agreement, offer a fixed-amount fellowship with minimum social security coverage, including:

– sickness, parental and invalidity benefits and

– benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases.

In this case, the living allowance will be reduced by 50%. The social security coverage must be guaranteed for the entire recruitment of the researchers, including during their secondments, if any.

Researchers must, in principle, be recruited on a full-time basis.

As explicitly explained on page 8 of the MSCA Financial Guide, if beneficiaries do not comply with their obligation to provide researchers with an employment contract (unless one of the exceptions mentioned above is applicable), or to recruit researchers on a full-time basis (unless part-time has been accepted), the related costs will not be considered as eligible and will be rejected.

IMPORTANTE

– The full-time employment / other direct contract with equivalent social security benefits needs to be signed with the researchers at the moment of their recruitment. The costs of researchers employed without a contractual instrument are rejected in full.

– The employment contract needs to specify all the required elements listed in Annex 5 – Article 18 of the HE Unit MGA, and it must make reference to the social security coverage that comes with it (by also indicating who is in charge of payment of the respective INPS contributions). Non-compliance with these principal obligations/specific rules for the implementation of the action can trigger a grant reduction.

– MSCA researchers are not allowed to work part-time under the HE Doctoral Networks/ H2020 ITN programme unless their private situation does not allow them to work full-time (for example due to health problems or to family-related reasons).

– The visa issues encountered by researchers of a non-EU nationality do not qualify as personal or family reasons, which are the only cases –subject to prior-approval by REA- when an authorisation for part-time employment for MSCA-DN/ITN can be given. Visa obstacles resulting in the acquisition simply of a student permit (instead of a proper work visa) constitute professional circumstances, and as such they cannot be invoked to request part-time employment in MSCA DN/ITN actions.

– Part-time contracts issued as hybrid and allegedly as a temporary solution to overcome the situation of a researcher holding a student visa cannot justify in itself any deviation from the requirement of a full-time contract. In this case the totality (100%) of the researchers’ costs related to the period they were holding just a part-time contract will be rejected.

– Recruiting a MSCA researcher on a part-time basis due to alleged visa issues and paying the full salary according to the MSCA rates does not alleviate the breach of the specific cost eligibility condition of Art. 6.2.A.(b)(iv) of the HE Unit MGA and Art. 6.2.A(b)iii of the H2020 MSCA-ITN MGA.

– In case a researcher cannot obtain a work visa allowing full-time employment by the date of the envisaged recruitment, the beneficiaries should inform REA in time as to explore together with the Project Officer viable ways to address the situation within the margins of the MSCA rules. Italian beneficiaries should also consider that the national procedure for obtaining such a visa can take long and may not always result in a positive outcome, so they should make sure they start the procedure well in advance. They should equally keep in mind that a researcher who has obtained a student visa will normally have to wait for one year until he/she can apply and obtain a full-time work visa. Entering into work-around solutions which are not in line with the GA provisions over this period might result into ineligible researchers’ costs.

RADIANCE è il progetto della rete internazionale dei punti di contatto nazionali (NCP) MSCA finanziato nell’ambito di Horizon Europe.

Il progetto di rete offre tool, eventi e servizi a beneficio non soltanto degli NCP MSCA,  ma di tutta la comunità R&I. Visita il sito ufficiale e scopri tutte le opportunità a te riservate.