All actions: Is developing materials for defence purposes an eligible topic for MSCA or Horizon Europe?

Horizon Europe only funds civil applications, so the consortium should check very carefully if the intended activities really fall in line with Horizon Europe regulations.

Applicants can check this Guidance note — Research with an exclusive focus on civil applications.

Please note that in any application, the consortium confirms the following in Part A (See Standard Application Form, p.7):

“We declare that the proposal has an exclusive focus on civil applications (activities intended to be used in military application or aiming to serve military purposes cannot be funded). If the project involves dual-use items in the sense of Regulation 2021/821, or other items for which authorisation is required, we confirm that we will comply with the applicable regulatory framework (e.g. obtain export/import licences before these items are used).”

Applicants can also get in touch with the National Contact Point for Cluster 3 “Civil security for society”.

DN: What are the reporting periods for a Joint Doctorate project of 5 years?

There are two reporting periods for Joint Doctorates: one covering months 1-24 and another one covering months 25-48 or 25-60.

Due month for the second Progress Report is Month 48.

SE: Should the number of secondments from entities from high-income third countries which are not automatically eligible for funding be included in the budget table?

Normally, no. However, if the consortium would like to apply for exceptional funding for these entities, they would have to encode a certain number of seconded researchers and person months. If this request is declined, the consortium will not have the possibility to redistribute these person-months. The request for exceptional funding should be well explained in Part B1. It is quite rare for the requests for exceptional funding to be granted.

DN: Is it necessary to encode main contacts for Associated partners?

When entering Associated partners in the EU portal, applicants do not need to enter a name or a contact for the partner (which they do for beneficiaries). Even though associated partners have to be added in the portal with a PIC, the researchers from Associated partners do not have access to the proposal in the submission system (unlike contacts for beneficiaries).

DN: What has to be filled in Part A if one of the beneficiaries has two principal investigators who wish to participate in a Doctoral Network?

In Part A two departments can be included for a given beneficiary, but there can only be one Main Contact in Part A per beneficiary.

DN: Can tuition fees of doctoral candidates be covered under the Research, training and networking costs?

Costs that are usually covered by tuition fees, such as student registration, access to student services, teaching, supervision, examination and graduation are eligible as institutional contributions (see p. 36 of MSCA Financial Guide).

All actions: Is VAT included in the budget allocated for MSCA grants? Can it be claimed separately where eligible?

Non-deductible VAT is eligible for reimbursement under Horizon Europe, including MSCA. This would mean that VAT incurred on purchasing consumables or subcontracting activities that would fall under the Institutional unit costs category of MSCA grants could be eligible, provided it aligns with national VAT regulations.

However, beneficiaries should bear in mind that institutional costs in MSCA are calculated based on unit costs and not as actual costs.

DN: Are Letters of Commitment from Associated Partners still required for the 2024 Doctoral Networks call?

No Letters of commitment are needed from Associated Partners. Applicants can check this FAQ.

All actions: Has the MSCA DESCA template been finalised and is it available online?

It is published on KoWi’s (EU Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations) website; direct link: https://www.kowi.de/en/Portaldata/2/Resources/kowi/2023-06-13_DESCA_Horizon_Europe_AP_MSCA_final.docx

Link to page: https://www.kowi.de/en/kowi/proposal-project/project-implementation-1/msca-projects/msca-projects.aspx

The model Consortium Agreement for Doctoral Networks and Staff Exchanges projects was drawn up by BAK AG Recht (Working Group on Legal Affairs of the Federal Working Group of EU Officers at Universities in Germany) on the basis of the DESCA Consortium Agreement for Horizon Europe.

DN: What expenses should the recruiting beneficiary cover for the Doctoral Candidates’ long-term secondments (over 6 months)?

In a MSCA Doctoral Networks, secondments of six months or less which require mobility from the place of residence must be financed using the Research, Training and Networking costs in order to prevent an unreasonable financial burden for the recruited researchers. This includes at least the travel and accommodation costs. Costs for visa-related fees should also be covered by the same cost category.

For long-term secondments, it is recommended that the beneficiary makes arrangements with the researcher and the receiving institution in order to avoid double charges (e.g., accommodation).

For secondments shorter than 6 months, fellows will probably keep their principal residence and to avoid them paying for two housings, the beneficiary must cover the accommodation costs related to their secondments. 

However, for secondments longer than 6 months, fellows will probably relocate and won’t have to pay for two residences. Therefore, for secondments longer than 6 months, it is not mandatory for the beneficiary to pay for the secondment costs. For example, for a one-year secondment, it is not mandatory for the beneficiary to pay for the secondment costs (even for the first six months).

However, while not mandatory, it is still allowed for the beneficiary to cover a part of the long-term secondments’ costs from the RTN costs budget, if they want to do so.