MSCA opens €608.6 million call for Doctoral Networks

Doctoral Networks implement doctoral programmes through partnerships of organisations from different sectors across Europe and beyond to train highly skilled doctoral candidates and boost their employability in the long-term.

The 2024 call for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks under Horizon Europe, the EU's key funding programme for research and innovation, is open for submissions as of today with a deadline to apply by 27 November 2024.

This call will dedicate €608.6 million to fund over 160 projects in all scientific fields and the training and skills development of 2,400 doctoral candidates.

MSCA Doctoral Networks implement doctoral programmes through consortia of organisations from different sectors across Europe and beyond, including

higher education institutions
research institutions and infrastructures,
private sector organisations, including industry, businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises
public sector organisations, including national, regional, and local governments, agencies and museums
other socio-economic actors

For more details on the composition of the consortia applying check the scheme’s page and the MSCA Work Programme.

Selected networks expose the researchers to the academic and non-academic sectors, and offer them research training, as well as transferable skills and competences relevant for innovation and their long-term employability.

Participating institutions receive funding to develop excellent doctoral programmes allowing them to attract talent, boost their global visibility and foster cooperation with other sectors and countries.

The MSCA and Doctoral Networks focus on excellence in various aspects: excellence does not only apply to the individual fellows supported or the collaborations fostered and knowledge transferred.

The quality and novelty of the research and innovation methodologies applied, the research conducted as well as the training, supervision and career guidance provided to researchers are also crucial aspects of MSCA doctoral networks and key award criteria.

The MSCA are open to all domains of research and innovation, chosen freely by the applicants, and have a strong focus in interdisciplinary, international and intersectoral cooperation.

Doctoral Networks support programmes addressing this triple dimension spanning all research fields and provide specific incentives to promote cooperation between academic and non-academic sectors.

Funding for excellent doctoral programmes

Doctoral Networks offer three funding modalities to set up doctoral programmes with specific incentives for Industrial and Joint Doctoral Networks

Standard Doctoral Networks promote international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral cooperation to train PhD candidates in various scientific areas, with a focus on promoting entrepreneurial mind-sets, research-related and transferable skills and long-term career prospects within and outside academia.
Industrial Doctoral Networks train PhD candidates and develop their skills outside academia, including in industry and business. Doctoral candidates also benefit from joint industry-academia supervision. These programmes foster the close cooperation between the academic and non-academic worlds and are ideal catalysts for technology transfer and for nurturing innovation.
Joint Doctoral Networks train PhD candidates through integrated programmes leading to joint or multiple doctoral degrees. These programmes promote structuring collaboration among institutions and are required to establish joint operational procedures for recruitment, admission, supervision and evaluation of doctoral candidates.

Indicative timeline

29 May 2024: launch of the call for proposals
27 November 2024: deadline to submit proposals
April 2025: notification of call results to applicants (TBC)
July 2025: grant agreement signature for successful projects (TBC)
Summer 2025: first EU-funded projects start (TBC)

Find out more and apply

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