Tagged / EU

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022

Funding opportunities

​The 2022 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) Call is now open on the Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal, with a deadline of 14 September 2022. Since last year, overall indicative budget for the call has increased form EUR 242 million to 275 million.

The Guide for Applicants and other related guidance documentation can be found in the ‘Conditions and documents’ section of the call page as well as on the ‘MSCA How to Apply‘ webpage. You can also check the whole timeline including estimated project start date if your proposal is successful.

As announced earlier, BU internal deadline for submission of eItB forms for this year’s call is 15 July 2022. However, if there are any new proposals RDS are not aware of, we would appreciate if potential BU supervisors inform their Funding Development Officers about it as soon as possible.

We will have very busy period in August-September as there are many resubmissions planned this year and we need to plan resources to provide appropriate support.

UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the MSCA, held dedicated series of webinars earlier in April this year to provide potential applicants with the information necessary to understand the nature of the MSCA PF call, and to submit a successful application. If you have missed those, video recordings and presentation slides of these sessions are still available on the following UKRO MSCA event webpages:

To access recordings, UKRO portal login details will be required. If you still have not registered, there are more details how BU academics can register.

With queries related to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 Call please contact Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

UKRO Subscription Services for BU Academics and Staff

Funding opportunities, international

Many BU academics may have recognised that RDS hosts annual UK Research Office (UKRO) visits to BU. These sessions are led by RDS and delivered in collaboration with BU European Advisor at the UKRO. Although, not all may be aware that BU is one of UKRO’s subscriber organisations.

UKRO supports the UK research and innovation community from Brussels and works with partners across government and stakeholders to maximise UK engagement in Horizon Europe programme. UKRO delivers subscription-based advisory service for research organisations; they even have non-UK associated members from Belgium, Norway, Finland and other countries.

UKRO also delivers free UK National Contact Point services for those interested in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and European Research Council programmes, however some sections of UKRO website are only available to staff at subscribing organisations.

Any BU employee can access UKRO services by creating their own profile. We encourage all BU academic staff to register – this is a quick and simple process which only requires institutional email address.

For all users in subscriber organisations UKRO provides the following services:

  • Access to the UKRO Portal, to keep you informed
  • Registered users receive tailored news articles on the latest EU funding and policy developments, as well as factsheets on different strands and aspects of EU research, innovation and higher education activities
  • Regular Horizon Europe training and information events
  • A place to meet and work in Brussels*

You can read more about EU-UK Relationship and UK Participation in EU-funded Programmes on UKRO portal and on a dedicated European Commission website.

If you are not sure or still have questions, contact Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

* It is possible to use UKRO’s dedicated workspaces for European project meetings. UKRO office is located within easy walking distance of most European Commission buildings, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

EU Funding News, May 2022

Funding opportunities

Horizon Europe Work Programme

According to the UK Research Office (UKRO), the European Commission has published an updated version of the recent 2021-22 Horizon Europe Work Programme, which includes new funding opportunities under some parts of the programme. In total, an additional €562 million is available through the Work Programme update.

Update also includes an a new MSCA4Ukraine scheme, which aims to support displaced scientists from Ukraine. This Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) scheme has a a total budget of €25 million and forms part of the European Union’s collective response to the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The European Commission will provide further information on the implementation of the scheme for institutions wishing to host researchers after the summer.

The updated individual Work Programme parts are available in the Reference Documents section for the Horizon Europe Programme on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The next main Work Programme for Horizon Europe (2023-24) is currently being drafted. The Commission expects to publish it officially and launch the first calls in December 2022; pre-publication of the draft documents is possible after September.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship Call 2022

As advertised earlier, UKRO has held a series of information webinars. These events included speakers from the MSCA unit within the European Commission and a current MSCA fellow.

Recordings and slides are available on the UKRO Event webpages (login details will be required; every BU academic should have an access to these resources because we are UKRO subscriber organisation, please register if you have not done this before):

ERC Consolidator and Advanced Grants 2023

The European Research Council (ERC) has published tentative dates of ERC 2023 Calls. ERC intends to return to a normal calendar of calls under the Work Programme 2023. Consolidator Grants (CoG) call is expected to close on 02/02/2023 and Advanced Grants (AdG) call on 23/05/2023.

We recommend that all academics considering applying for these calls get in touch with RDS as soon as possible. The e-ItB submission deadlines are 30 August 2022 (CoG) and 21 February 2023 (AdG). RDS expect that PIs would have ensured full support from their Departments and Faculties before they submit an ItB.

For more information please refer to your Funding Development Officer.

Funding briefings

RDS Funding Development Briefings for BU academics will continue until July 27, 2022 with an overview of Horizon Europe Draft Work Programmes 2022-23 scheduled for the last session of this academic year.

All academics have access to the latest funding opportunities on the I Drive: I:\RDS\Public\Funding Pipeline

The next spotlight session this week (18 May at noon) will be about British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Reminder: Weekly Funding Development Briefing and Spotlight on MSCA PF this Wednesday

Funding opportunities

As promised earlier this month, the Funding Development Briefing on Wednesday 23 March at 12 noon will also include spotlight on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) 2022 Call. This year’s Call is expected to open on 13 April 2022, submission deadline 14 September 2022.

This session will cover:

  • Short MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships overview
  • Scope and expected outcomes
  • Basic eligibility rules
  • Award criteria
  • UKRO webinars available to BU academics
  • Internal processes

After presentation there will also be a short Q&A session available for those less familiar with the scheme.

For those unable to attend the session, slides will be shared on Brightspace.

To discuss more details about your potential EU project idea or MSCA scheme specifically, you are welcome to get in touch with RDS Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

Good UK – Horizon Europe News

According to Research Professional, UK government has extended a financial “safety net” for successful UK applicants to Horizon Europe (HEU). This follows last November’s guarantee for the limited number of “first wave” of funding calls from the European Union’s €95.5 billion (£80.5bn) R&D programme.

On 15 March, 2022 science minister George Freeman extended the guarantee to awards that are expected to be signed by the end of December 2022, while efforts continued to associate to the programme. The announcement comes after yesterday’s news that the business department has allocated £6.8 billion for EU programmes during 2022-2025, supporting the UK’s eventual association with Horizon Europe, Euratom Research and Training, and Fusion for Energy.

The extension now covers “all eligible, current applications to calls where researchers expect to sign grant agreements this year” but are unable to do so due to the ongoing delays to formalising UK association. Full details of the scope and terms of the extended guarantee are available on the UKRI website.

As usual, we encourage BU academics to apply for next Horizon Europe calls. To discuss more details about your potential HEU project, please get in touch with RDS Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums or your allocated Funding Development Officer.

EU funding related events – March / April 2022

Funding opportunities

COST webinar

UKRO will be holding a webinar ‘An Introduction to COST” on 17 March 2022 (11:00-12:30pm UK time). COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding organisation that aims to support researchers, in any sector and at all career stages, to grow their professional research networks and boost their careers. COST Actions are open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging fields and help to connect research initiatives across Europe and beyond.

The webinar is aimed at researchers and research support staff, interested in finding out more about COST funding opportunities. The event will also outline the different ways to get involved in a COST action and will cover UK participation in COST. Attendance is free of charge, but participants should register here.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 Call Information Webinar Series

The UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), will be holding a series of information webinars for organisations and individuals interested in applying to the 2022 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships Call (call opens 13 April 2022, call deadline 14 September 2022).

Postdoctoral Fellowships help experienced researchers advance their careers and gain new skills through training, international, intersectoral and international mobility. Postdoctoral Fellowships are aimed at researchers who are already in possession of a doctoral degree, and at the call deadline have a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent research experience.

BU has excellent track record in applying for MSCA fellowships and we encourage those considering to apply for the first time to register and participate in these webinar series.

I would like to remind BU academics that MSCA calls are one of exceptions regarding submission of Intention to Bid forms; RDS my require to submit ItB up to two months before the submission deadline. Please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer as soon as possible if you plan to apply to 2022 MSCA PF call.

ERC 2022 Advanced Grant Webinar Slides and Recording Available

The presentation slides and video recording from UKRO ERC Advanced Grant Webinar are now available for the two sessions and can be accessed on the UKRO event page.

Tentative Dates for ERC 2023 Calls are Announced

The European Research Council (ERC) has published the tentative deadline dates for the 2023 calls. Note that these deadlines will not be confirmed until the 2023 ERC Work Programme is officially published over the summer.

ERC calls are another exception regarding submission of ItB forms; RDS my require to submit ItB at least three months before the submission deadline. Please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer as soon as possible if you plan to apply to ERC 2022 Advanced Grant or ERC 2023 Starting Grant (submission deadline in 2022) call.

I would like to also remind that all BU researchers can access the UKRO Portal as employees of the subscribing institution to read news articles, factsheets and other useful information. Anyone with an institutional email address can register. To access some links above, you may be required to be UKRO registered user.

UKRO annual visit – meeting with BU academics in 2021

Funding opportunities

As usual, RDS will host the annual UK Research Office visit to BU in 2021 – this year it will be virtual again.

This year’s event is scheduled for October 27, 2021 and is organised as part of funding briefing session; we have those on Teams every Wednesday.

Please make a note in your diaries – all academic staff interested in Horizon Europe framework programme and EU funding in general are invited to attend this session.

The session will be hosted by RDS and led by our UKRO European Advisor Ms Malgorzata Czerwiec from Brussels.

This year you are not be required to register in advance – simply join our Wednesday’s briefing session on 27th October at noon.

Agenda

12:00 – 12:10

Newest funding opportunities (as usual)

12:10 – 12:50

Horizon Europe Pillar 2 opportunities – how to approach calls for collaborative funding.

During this session will be covered opportunities of Horizon Europe 2022 calls, highlighting key features of proposal writing/consortium building/evaluation.

13:00 – 14:45

Previously booked one-to-one sessions (to be held using Zoom) with UKRO representative.

Academics are welcome to book one-to-one sessions indicating their EU funding related topic of interest; please email individually to Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums by 25 October and we will allocate 15 minutes timeslot for you.

UKRO delivers subscription-based advisory service for research organisations and provides Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and European Research Council (ERC) National Contact Point services in the UK. As part of UKRO services, BU members of staff may sign up to receive personalised email alerts and get early access to the EU funding related publications on UKRO portal.

Please contact Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums if you have further questions.

Horizon Europe collaboration tools and novelties

Funding opportunities

Collaboration tools

Following the recent Horizon Europe (HEU) Cluster 1 Health Brokerage Event, the online partnering system remains open to book partnering video meetings and publish new collaboration profiles until 31 October 2021. The UK National Contact Point provides further materials from UK-focussed events on a dedicated website and via a newsletter, which you can subscribe to for free.

Following the recent Horizon Europe Cluster 2 Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society Brokerage Event, the online partnering system for 2021 calls has been reopened and remains available to book video meetings and contact registered users until 5 October 2021. The UK National Contact Point provides further materials from national events on a dedicated website. The ‘Sustainable future for Europe’ information and brokerage event (Cluster 2 “Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Societies”) for 2022 calls will be held virtually on 30 September.

Horizon Europe Novelties

The Online Manual for EU Funding Programmes 2021-27 states that all EU-funded actions, including Horizon Europe projects, should have a maximum of 10-15 major deliverables.

This is to make the proposal concise, moving away from the 70-page limit in H2020 to the new 45-page limit in Horizon Europe for RIA/IA projects and about giving the proposal a good structure, not limiting work/outputs. There can be many internal deliverables within the project, but they should be structured to no more than 15 major deliverables in the list itself. Minor sub-items should not be included (internal working papers, meeting minutes, etc.).

The recently published Horizon Europe Programme Guide includes useful information on the novelties and horizontal aspects of Horizon Europe.

HEU Work Programme Update

The Horizon Europe Work Programme for 2021-22 will be updated in the autumn to accommodate some important changes, which were not included in the original version, published in mid-June. The first Horizon Europe Work Programme may include several elements related to the implementation of the new programme, for example:

  • Information about topics which will be part of the ‘blind evaluation’ pilot
  • Information about topics which will use the lump sum funding model
  • Information about countries that will be subject to new restrictions on participation in the Cluster 4 Work Programme
  • Further information on the implementation of the Horizon Europe Missions

Funding briefings

As announced earlier, Funding Development Briefings for BU academics will resume in September. RDS Research Facilitators still are updating the Major Opportunities pipeline on a weekly basis, so you have access to the latest funding opportunities on the I Drive here: I:\RDS\Public\Funding Pipeline

Horizon Europe – July Update

Post-award

Draft of the Annotated Grant Agreement published

The European Commission (EC) has published the draft of the Annotated Grant Agreement, which includes additional explanations for each article of the corporate Model Grant Agreement. It reflects the new corporate structure of the General Model Grant Agreement and equally will be used for all centrally managed EU programmes that have already migrated (or will soon migrate) to the Funding & Tenders Portal.

HEU Work Programme published

EC adopted the main Horizon Europe (HEU) Work Programme for 2021-2022 in mid-June and consequently published the final version on the Funding & Tenders Portal. Consequently, many of the first calls for proposals, worth €14.7 billion, have already opened. There are several updates planned to the Work Programme, in particular in the autumn, to clarify the eligibility conditions for topics that were under discussion in Cluster 4 ‘ Digital, Industry and Space’ where some restrictions to protect the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security apply.

HEU Info Days

Following the recent Horizon Europe Cluster 4 Digital Brokerage Event held by Ideal-ist, the network of National Contact Points for ICT research and the Enterprise Europe Network, the online partnering system remains open to book scheduled and ad hoc meetings until the first call deadlines (21 October 2021). In addition, resources from the European Commission’s Horizon Europe information events are available online: Cluster 1 Health Info Day, Cluster 2 Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society Info Day, Cluster 5 Climate, Energy & Mobility Info Day and Cluster 6 Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment Info Day.

Swiss participation in HEU

As of 30 July 2021, Switzerland is treated as a non-associated third country in Horizon Europe. Consequently, researchers based in Switzerland are currently only able to participate in a Horizon Europe, the Euratom programme and the Digital Europe Programme proposal as an associated partner from a third country.

Funding for researchers and innovators based in Switzerland for their participation in collaborative projects will be provided by the Swiss Government for all 2021 calls of Horizon Europe and the Euratom programme. The State Secretariat for Research and Innovation (SERI) has published a financial guarantee on their website.

So, a Swiss partner is eligible to participate in collaborative projects, though the consortia have to make sure that the minimum eligibility criteria, excluding Switzerland, is met for each proposal.

You can find the most recent information on the current status of Switzerland within HEU and relevant materials for researchers on the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation website.

Association to HEU

According to Research Professional, EC has completed its second round of talks on association to Horizon Europe with a group of non-EU countries. Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Moldova, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine have all now completed their second round of talks. The final round of negotiations is expected to take place from the end of August to mid-September, with a target of signing association agreements by the end of 2021.

On 17 June, the EC announced it had given provisional associated access to Horizon Europe to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Morocco, Norway and the UK.

Negotiations on UK association have already been concluded as part of a broader agreement on trade and other relations with the bloc.

Funding opportunities

As it was announced earlier this week, there will be no funding briefings in August with those returning in September. However, RDS Research Facilitators will continue updating the Major Opportunities pipeline on a weekly basis, so you have access to the latest funding opportunities. The pipeline is available on the I Drive at RDS\Public\Funding Pipeline.

Let me wish you all to enjoy the rest of the summer and do not hesitate to contact me with questions related to EU and international funding.

TomorrowPorts conference for smart port innovators

Business Engagement, conferences, Industry collaboration, innovation

SPEED, a European Interreg project, with Bournemouth University as one of its partners, is holding a conference in September aimed at those interested in new technologies (such as smart port applications), business models and ecosystems that can lead to smarter ports.

The TomorrowPorts conference takes place in Antwerp, Belgium from 23-24 September. During the event participants will learn from use cases from smart port pioneers, get inspired by state-of-the-art smart port technologies, find tech talent to fuel the digital transformation, and get in touch with the latest thinking and frameworks. More information and tickets for TomorrowPorts are available here.

SPEED – the Smart Ports Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development – aims to build an ecosystem for smart port app development in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the UK, bridging the gap between the worlds of European ports and the nascent data science – IoT market.

The conference also provides the opportunity to nominate port solutions for an award to show that collaboration within port ecosystems is key to creating the Smart Ports of Tomorrow. The winner and two runners up are entitled to a money prize, exposure, networking opportunities, free co-working space, and access to the virtual development lab and specific toolkits. The award ceremony will be held at the TomorrowPorts Conference in Antwerp, on Friday September 24. Find out more about the award and on how to register your case here.

 

 

 

 

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 – July update

Funding opportunities, Training

As it was announced earlier this week, on 22nd July from 10am to 3pm, RDS will host an online workshop for those interested in applying for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF) 2021 call. Please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk by the end of the next Monday 19 July if you’d like to attend; both supervisors and potential fellows are welcome to participate. Link to join the event to those registered will be sent early next week.

Proposal submission deadline for MSCA PD 2021 call is 12 October 2021, the deadline for submission of Intention to Bid form to RDS is 16 August 2021.

The workshop will consist of two sessions led by Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums. In the morning session (10am to 12 pm) we will review general MSCA PF rules and 2021 call novelties. In the afternoon (1pm to 3pm) we will focus on proposal preparation providing useful tips and advice. Both parts will end with Q&A sessions.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) are part of the First Pillar within the new Horizon Europe (HEU) framework programme. These actions are open to all research areas and support fundamental research through to near market activities. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (formerly Individual Fellowships) are aimed at individual fellows who already have a doctoral degree and wish to enhance their creative and innovative potential and acquire new skills through research and training activities supervised by experienced academics.

The overall structure of the proposal template and information requested to be addressed in the proposal has not changed significantly from Horizon 2020. However, some of the text has been revised, and a few additional subheadings have been included. The guidance on how to complete Part B of the proposal is no longer included in the Guide for Applicants but is included in the template itself. More information is available on the MSCA-2021-PF call page under ‘topic conditions and documents’ section.

 

 

MCSA Postdoctoral Fellowship – Call Status and Workshop

Funding opportunities, international

This call is expected to be open shortly, and the deadline for submitting your Intention to Bid form to RDS is at close of Monday 16th August.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to excellent researchers of any nationality.

There are 2 types of Postdoctoral Fellowships:

  1. European Postdoctoral Fellowships. Open to researchers moving within Europe or coming to Europe from another part of the world to pursue their research career. These fellowships take place in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and can last between 1 and 2 years. Researchers of any nationality can apply.
  2. Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. They fund the mobility of researchers outside Europe. The fellowship lasts between 2 to 3 years, of which the first 1 to 2 years will be spent in a non-associated Third Country, followed by a mandatory return phase of 1 year to an organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Only nationals or long-term residents of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can apply.

This scheme also encourages researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector and is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers in research.

MSCA WORKSHOP

22nd July 10:00  – 15:00

A workshop organised by RDS will be held for those interested in applying for an MSCA post Doctoral Fellowship. Please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to attend.

Follow this link to learn more details about MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

 

Update on Horizon Europe

Funding opportunities

The Horizon Europe Regulation was published on 12 May and we were expecting to see the first Work Programme published by the European Commission in the same week. However, since then, the publication has been delayed several times, and while some calls have already opened and closed (ERC, emergency COVID-19, EIC), most of the main calls have not been published.

According to UKRO, the reason for this delay is the on-going discussions on eligibility criteria for certain topics in specific Work Programme parts, related to whether topics in selected areas will be open to the participation of Associated Countries. A positive vote on the Horizon Europe Work Programme by Member States this week would allow a publication within the next two weeks.

If the Work Programme is agreed by mid-June, as currently expected, the European Commission will organise online info sessions on the first calls at the end of June or the beginning of July. If there is a further delay, the timetable for calls might need to be revised more substantially.

UKRO understands that the European Commission wants to maintain a period of at least three months between the opening of calls and respective deadlines. If the Work Programme is agreed by mid-June, and calls launch simultaneously, this will mean a delay of a few weeks to deadlines compared to the original schedule where calls would have been launched in mid-March.

This delay of the calls does not affect UK participation and UK entities have already started participating in the first Horizon Europe calls or are in the process of submitting proposals. UK entities can apply to the calls once they open, as confirmed by the European Commission.

Funding Development Briefing – Spotlight on Horizon Europe – open calls

Funding opportunities

The RDS Funding Development Briefings occur weekly, on a Wednesday at 12 noon.

Each session covers the latest major funding opportunities, followed by a brief Q&A session. Some sessions also include a spotlight on a particular funding opportunity of strategic importance to BU.

Next Wednesday 26th May, there will be a spotlight on Horizon Europe – open calls

We will cover:

  • HE Open calls
  • How to apply
  • Q & A

For those unable to attend, the session will be recorded and shared on Brightspace here.

Please email RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk to receive the Teams invite for these sessions.

 

MSCA 2021 Postdoctoral Fellowships Information Sessions – Slides Available

Funding opportunities, Info Days

​The UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Horizon Europe 2021 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), were holding a series of information webinars to support potential applicants applying for the 2021 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships call (expected call opening 18 May 2021, proposed call deadline 15 September 2021).

The webinar series aimed to provide participants with comprehensive overview of the scheme, including the budget, how to develop your proposal, the submission process, and tips on how to address the evaluation criteria. UKRO have kindly provided the presentation slides from those webinars; staff of UKRO subscribing organisations may access them on UKRO website (registration is required). Please follow the links below to see more:

Session 1: Overview and Eligibility Rules

Session 2: MSCA PF: Practical Matters

Session 3: MSCA PF: Process for Submission and Evaluation and Expert Evaluator Presentation

BU is one of the UKRO’s subscriber organisations and every BU employee may use their  services – sign up to the UKRO portal and subscribe for email newsletters to receive the latest information on EU funding and policy directly to your inbox; for more information visit UKRO website.

If you have any further queries related to either EU/international funding in general, Horizon Europe Framework Programme or MSCA scheme specifically, please contact BU Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

Update on Horizon Europe

Funding opportunities

This blog post is prepared based on an article published by UKRO.

The European Parliament has adopted the legal basis of Horizon Europe. MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of both the Horizon Europe Regulation and the Specific Programme on Tuesday night last week. This paves the way for the final adoption and publication of the legislation – followed by the publication of the first Horizon Europe Work Programme with calls for proposals, budgets and deadlines.

Following the Parliament’s consent, the Specific Programme for Horizon Europe and the Euratom Regulation will now need to be adopted by the Council of Ministers within the next two weeks. The Horizon Europe Regulation, the Specific Programme and the Euratom Regulation are then expected to be published in the Official Journal of the EU on 12 May and become law, allowing for the first Horizon Europe Work Programme to be published once the drafting process is completed. The Regulation will apply retroactively from 1 January 2021, thus covering the early Horizon Europe calls launched so far.

UKRO understands that due to a further delay in the drafting process, unusually, the main Work Programme will not be published on the same day the programme’s legal basis enters into force – its publication and launch of the first calls is now expected to take place in late May, with the possibility that some of the first deadlines may need to be adjusted accordingly.

The Parliament’s approval of Horizon Europe also brings the formal UK association process a step closer to completion. In the meantime, UK entities can be included in consortia, as if the UK were already associated to the programme, in accordance with the Commission’s guidance.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021

Funding opportunities

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) are part of the First Pillar within Horizon Europe (HEU) framework programme. They operate on a completely bottom-up basis, with no pre-defined priority areas.

These actions are open to all research areas and support fundamental research through to near market activities. In HEU, MSCA will continue to provide grants for all stages of researchers’ careers with a strong emphasis on encouraging international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility.

Postdoctoral Fellowships (formerly Individual Fellowships) are aimed at individual fellows who already have a doctoral degree and wish to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD, wishing to acquire new skills through further research.

The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call 2021 is expected to open on 18 May 2021; proposal submission deadline – 15 September 2021. RDS is prepared to support BU academics wishing to supervise incoming fellows as usual. We encourage to get in touch with RDS Funding Development Team as soon as possible; we will not require submitting Intention to Bid form before August, however it will allow us to efficiently plan resources for supporting academics.

This article has been prepared based on information prepared by UK Research Office (UKRO). UKRO, in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the MSCA, provides useful and up to date information to their subscribers. UKRO supports the R&I community in the UK and Europe.

BU is one of the UKRO subscriber organisations and every BU employee may use their  services – sign up to the UKRO portal and subscribe for email newsletters to receive the latest information on EU funding and policy directly to your inbox; for more information visit UKRO website.

In a case of further queries related to either EU funding in general, Horizon Europe Framework Programme or MSCA scheme specifically, please contact BU Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.