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23/06/2022

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks (MSCA DN) - open call

Categories: News

Tags: MSCA | MSCA DN | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions | Doctoral Networks | PhD | Industrial Doctorates | Joint Doctorates

The 2022 call is now OPEN with a deadline on 15 November 2022
The call is open to institutions, not to individual PhD candidates.

The objective of Doctoral Networks (MSCA DN) is to implement doctoral programmes through partnerships with 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.

Who can apply?

Doctoral Networks are open to international consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and other non-academic organisations. They should include:

  • at least three independent legal entities, each established in a different EU Member State (MS) or Horizon Europe Associated Country (AC) and with at least one of them established in an EU Member State
  • on top of this minimum, other organisations from any country in the world can also join*
  • specific conditions apply to Industrial and Joint Doctorates

*Organisations from LAC (and from everywhere else) can join any consortia to submit a proposal. They are eligible for funding and can be beneficiaries in an MSCA DN project when they are established in EU MS, AC or low- and middle-income non-associated countries included in the list of countries eligible for funding provided in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

=> In Latin America and the Caribbean, the only countries automatically eligible for institutional funding by the European Commission are: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic). Legal entities established in countries not listed in the Programme Guide (Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay) will be eligible for funding if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

In addition, Associated Partners can be established anywhere in the world and in any sector even in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay. Associated partners don't directly claim costs and don't recruit PhD candidates. They can host secondments for up to 11 months.
Full details on the MSCA DN Guide for Applicants, like the difference between Beneficiaries and Associated Partners.

As of 2022, resubmission restrictions will apply for applications that received a score below 80% the previous year.

IMPORTANT: once selected, the Doctoral Networks offer PhD vacancies. Individual researchers of any nationality are eligible to apply to these PhD positions that are advertised on the EURAXESS Jobs portal.

Types of Doctoral Networks

Doctoral Networks implement doctoral programmes, through 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 competencies relevant for innovation and long-term employability.

Besides standard Doctoral Networks, incentives have been introduced to promote two specific types of doctorates as well.

  1. Industrial Doctorates. They train PhD candidates who wish to develop their skills and step outside academia, in particular in industry and business. Individual participants must be enrolled in a doctoral programme and jointly supervised by academic and non-academic partners.
  2. Joint Doctorates. They provide a highly integrated type of international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in doctoral training leading to a joint doctoral degree or multiple doctoral degrees awarded by the participating institutions. PhD candidates must be enrolled in a joint programme and be jointly supervised.

What does the funding cover?

All areas of research may be funded and Doctoral Networks can last for up to four years. The duration of each fellowship is between three and 36 months. Each beneficiary must recruit at least one doctoral candidate and can also organise secondments for them anywhere in the world. Funding to recruit additional researchers is proposed as an incentive for Industrial and Joint Doctorates.

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 costs

Check MSCA DN 2022 call here

(available as from the opening of the call, due on 12/05)

 

Deadline for submitting proposals: 15 November 2022

Webinar about MSCA DN (in Spanish):

Past webinar in Spanish: https://bit.ly/MSCADNparaLAC

 

 

Additional resources