Horizon Europe 2025: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Research and innovation projects to boost top researchers’ careers through mobility and innovative doctoral and postdoctoral training, including academia-business collaborations.
Opportunity Details
When
Registration Opens
06/05/2025 00:00
Registration Closes
03/12/2025 16:00
Award
Total 2025 budget of over €1200m; per-project maxima will be confirmed soon.
Organisation
Horizon Europe
A programme of Excellent Science
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) aim to encourage more young women and men to make a career in research, promote its attractiveness for top talents from around the world, retain the EU’s own researchers, and reintegrate those working elsewhere.
The MSCA strongly contribute to excellent research, boosting jobs, growth and investment by equipping researchers with new knowledge and skills, including transferable ones, and providing them with an international as well as inter-sectoral exposure (including through academia-business collaboration), to fill the top positions of tomorrow.
Intervention areas
There are five main MSCA intervention areas and all individual Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions contribute to these intervention areas:
- Nurturing Excellence through Mobility of Researchers across Borders, Sectors and Disciplines
- Fostering new Skills through Excellent Training of Researchers
- Strengthening Human Capital and Skills Development across the European Research Area
- Improving and Facilitating Synergies
- Promoting Public Outreach
These are implemented by five actions within the MSCA: Doctoral Networks, Postdoctoral Fellowships, Staff Exchanges, COFUND, and “MCSA and Citizens”.
UK businesses may be particularly interested in:
- Industrial Doctorates (part of the Doctoral Networks action), through which doctoral candidates will step outside academia and develop skills in industry and business by being jointly (50/50) supervised by academic and non-academic organisations
- Postdoctoral Fellowships, which can be hosted by organisations including SMEs, and can also support researchers in a placement at the end of the project to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector
- MSCA Staff Exchanges, which involve organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors (including SMEs) from across the globe: support is provided for international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility of R&I staff leading to knowledge transfer between participating organisations.
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Work Programme
The Work Programme document outlines the expected impacts as set out by the Excellent Science strategic plan and details specific calls for proposals and their relevant conditions to apply. Review this information before beginning your application process.
A full list of open 2025 calls within each action is given below. Potential applicants can watch the relevant info days from Thursday 5 June (recording) and Tuesday 24 June (recording) or view all Horizon Europe past events and recordings.
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For Postdoctoral Fellowships, individual interested researchers submit an application together with a host organisation, which can be a university, research institution, business, SME or other organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country (this includes the UK).
For other actions within the MCSA, UK organisations and businesses can apply for funding as part of a three-country consortium with at least one member from within the EU. If you are interested in one of the calls and would like to find a collaboration partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s European Programmes team.
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Two information day recordings are available to watch for potential applicants:
- the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks 2025 – Call info day on Tuesday 24 June 2025 (recordings available), which will inform all potential applicants and stakeholders about the key aspects of the MSCA-DN-2025 call for proposals, and promote the Industrial Doctorate and Joint Doctorate modes and present the main incentives (online event)
- the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) staff exchanges information session 2025 on Thursday 5 June 2025 (recordings available)
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Closing date 24 Jun 2025:
- MSCA COFUND 2025 – €105.56m total funding covering Doctoral and Post-Doctoral programmes
Closing date 16 Sep 2025:
- MSCA4Ukraine Fellowships 2025 – c.€9.5m-10m for a single project
Closing date 10 Sep 2025:
- MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 – €343.65m total funding for European fellowships and €60.64m for Global fellowships
Closing date 8 Oct 2025:
- MSCA Staff Exchanges 2025 – €97.71m total funding
Closing date 22 Oct 2025:
- MCSA and Citizens: European Researchers’ Night and Researchers at Schools 2026-2027 – €16.25m total budget, c.€0.1-0.35m per project, for around 50 projects
Closing date 25 Nov 2025:
- MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025 – €597.80m total funding (this includes funding for academia-business Industrial Doctorates, and for Joint Doctorates in two countries)
Closing date 3 Dec 2025:
- MSCA Choose Europe 2025 – €22.5m for European talent recruitment programmes for doctoral degree holders
Read more and download the current Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Work Programme 2025 or see all 2025 Horizon Europe Work Programmes.
Review the application process
What are the steps? How long does it take? What resources are available to support your research and innovation? Explore everything you need to know to get started.
Navigating the process
Related programmes
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) provide funding opportunities for mobility, training and knowledge exchange at all stages of a researcher’s career.
Horizon Europe
Explore information on the UK’s official Horizon Europe Hub to help guide you on your research and innovation journey.
Introduction to EU Missions
EU Missions support the European Commission’s priorities and are an exciting new edition to the Horizon Europe Framework Programme.