Horizon 2020, the Marie Curie Actions are called the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA). This change better reflects the Polish roots of this extraordinary scientist who inspired and inspires the programme.
Awarding €6.16 billion in the period to 2020, the MSCA support research training and career development focused on innovation skills. The programme funds worldwide and cross-sector mobility that implements excellent research in any field (a “bottom-up” approach).
There are MSCA grants for all stages of a researcher’s career, from PhD candidates to highly experienced researchers, which encourage transnational, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. The MSCA will become the main EU programme for doctoral training, financing 25,000 PhDs.
Endowing researchers with new skills and a wider range of competences, while offering them attractive working conditions, is a crucial aspect of the MSCA. In addition to fostering mobility between countries, the MSCA also seek to break the real and perceived barriers between academic and other sectors, especially business. Several MSCA initiatives promote the involvement of industry etc. in doctoral and post-doctoral research.
