The Commission is allocating more than 210 million euros to support the career development of more than 700 researchers in Europe

More than 700 additional researchers will be able to pursue their careers in Europe thanks to an extra investment of over 210 million euros in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), one of Europe’s flagship programmes for the development of research careers. This funding forms part of ‘Choose Europe’, the European Commission’s initiative to position the EU as the world’s leading magnet for scientific talent, research and technological innovation.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said:

‘Researchers choose Europe. They know that we value and support science, and that Europe offers an environment conducive to the development of talent and ideas. For 30 years, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions have helped researchers from all over the world to build their careers in Europe. With this additional funding, we are reinforcing our commitment to research excellence and ensuring that European societies and economies can benefit from the most cutting-edge knowledge, ideas and innovation.”

The Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, announced the funding at the high-level event‘Celebrating 30 Years of MSCA: Curiosity That Changes the World’, which is taking place in Brussels.

This increase in funding responds to the record demand for research career opportunities in Europe. The call for MSCA 2026 postdoctoral grants received 21,627 applications from researchers worldwide – the highest number of proposals received for any funding action in over 40 years of the EU’s research and innovation framework programmes.

The additional funding will strengthen two of the programme’s key actions: MSCA postdoctoral fellowships and doctoral networks, which are estimated to provide further opportunities for a further 700 researchers.

Investing in Europe’s research talent

The announcement follows the Commission’s adoption ofthe amended Horizon Europe Work Programme for 2026–2027 on 29 September. Horizon Europe is the EU’s main funding programme for research and innovation, running from 2021 to 2027 with a budget of nearly €100 billion.

With this additional investment, the budget allocated to both postdoctoral fellowships and doctoral networks will reach its highest levels since they were launched.  

By 2027, the budget for postdoctoral fellowships will rise to €459 million, and the budget for doctoral networks to €645 million.

According to current estimates, the 2027 call for postdoctoral fellowships could support more than 1,800 postdoctoral researchers, whilst the 2027 call for doctoral networks could support more than 2,000 doctoral candidates. The Commission estimates that, following the announced increase in funding, a further 700 researchers and doctoral candidates will be added to that figure.

By 2026, the budget for postdoctoral fellowships will reach 434 million euros, whilst doctoral networks will receive 628 million euros.

30 years of curiosity that is changing the world

2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). Since its inception in 1996, more than 150,000 researchers have taken part in the programme, including 23 Nobel laureates. What began as a programme supporting around 800 researchers a year now supports around 8,000 annually.

To mark the anniversary, the Commission has also launched a new interactive publication featuring over 100 stories from the MSCA community. Through an interactive timeline, a world map and stories covering a wide range of scientific fields, the publication highlights the people, ideas and achievements that have shaped the programme over the last 30 years.

 

More information: European Commission