MSCA-COFUND: Doctoral and Fellowship programmes 6003 views

Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA)–COFUND scheme aims to stimulate regional, national or international programs to nurture excellence in researchers’ training, mobility and career development, spreading the best practices.

Scope:

• Each proposal backed under the COFUND scheme shall have a sole beneficiary that will be responsible for the availability of the necessary matching funds to execute the proposal.
• Applicants submit multi-annual proposals for new or existing doctoral programmes or fellowship programmes which are expected to have an impact on enhancing research and innovation related human resources on regional, national or international level.
• Applicants having benefited from COFUND under previous calls (under Seventh Framework Programme or under Horizon 2020) will explain how their proposal adds value in relation to previous grant(s).
• Researchers supported under this scheme shall comply with the mobility rules of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.
• Limitations regarding the researchers’ origin and destination should be avoided. Support cannot be awarded to researchers who are already permanently employed by the organization hosting them.
• Proposed programmes are encouraged to cover all research disciplines (“bottom-up”), but can also focus on specific disciplines. In this case the range of covered disciplines should allow reasonable flexibility for the researchers.
• Programmes that prioritise specific research disciplines based on national or regional Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3 strategies) can also be supported. Synergies with the European Structural & Investment Funds (ESIF) are encouraged.

COFUND takes the form of:

1. Doctoral programmes (DP):

• DP addresses the development and broadening of the research competencies of early-stage researchers (ESRs). The training follows the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training. Collaboration with a wider set of partner organisations, including from the non-academic sector, which may provide hosting or secondment opportunities or training in research or transferable skills, as well as innovative elements of the proposed programme, will be positively taken into account during the evaluations.
• Each researcher must be enrolled in a doctoral programme. Attention is paid to the quality of supervision and mentoring arrangements as well as career guidance.

2. Fellowship programmes (FP):

• FP fund individual research training and career development fellowships for experienced researchers.
• FP must be based on individual-driven mobility, i.e., researchers should be able to freely choose a research topic and the appropriate organisation to host them, fitting their individual needs.
• Given that the aim of the co-funded FP is the support of individual fellows, research teams will not be funded.

Budget:

• EUR 80.00 million from the 2016 budget.
• Doctoral Programmes: EUR 30 million
• Fellowship Programmes: EUR 50 million

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