SE: A Doctoral Candidate’s scholarship ends in Month X, while the thesis defence will take place in Month Z. According to internal organisation rules, the person retains Doctoral Candidate status until the thesis defence. During this period, however, Doctoral Candidates no longer receive a scholarship, although they may undertake missions funded through their supervisors’ research funds. Will a secondment of such a Doctoral Candidate be considered eligible and reimbursable in MSCA Staff Exchanges?

Being registered as a PhD candidate in a concrete country/organisation is sufficient to be considered as a staff member, so they are eligible, even if they do not have a working contract.

Furthermore, this organisation must be in the consortium, must have signed the MSCA-Staff Exchanges Grant Agreement, and must send their staff (i.e., PhD candidate) within the project duration.

On the specific issue of thesis defence pending, the PhD candidate must still be a staff member of their sending organisation while on secondment.

‘Staff’ means there is a contractual link that gives the sending organisation the legal means in terms of control, supervision, and instructions to impose on the secondee compliance with the Grant Agreement obligations (e.g. full-time work for the activities of the project, IPR, visibility of EU funds, confidentiality, etc.).

Beneficiaries should also consider all other eligibility criteria mentioned in the relevant and applicable Work Programme.

All actions: Are Russian researchers eligible to apply for MSCA?

Under the framework of Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027, Russian natural persons who are subject to EU restrictive measures may not participate in EU grants.

However, even if natural persons are not subject to EU restrictive measures, natural persons (whatever their nationality) who have their habitual residence in Russia, Belarus or non-government-controlled territories of Ukraine cannot receive financial support.

This restriction is not targeting natural persons of Russian or Belarusian nationality if they do not have their habitual residence in one of these areas. Therefore, Russian individuals who are not attached to a Russian entity (private or public) and do not have their habitual residence in one of the areas mentioned, will in principle remain eligible, after a thorough screening against the EU sanctions list.

Applicants can check this FAQ on the Funding and Tenders Opportunities Portal as well.

PF: Can it be criticised that the same supervisor features in a high number of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship applications?

There is no rule about what the optimal/ maximum number of supervised researchers is. Note: the supervisor would still need to ensure that they are able to fulfill their supervisory obligations, as outlined in the MSCA Supervision Guidelines, for any and all PF applications that are successful in which they are the designated supervisor.

PF: Is it possible to add a contact person for the outgoing host for Global Fellowships in the system?

The organisation involved in the outgoing phase participates as an Associated Partner. As such, it is not possible to add contact persons for Associated Partners in the portal for Horizon Europe calls. This is confirmed on p. 25 of the Proposal Submission Service User Manual.

PF: Is working as a university lecturer accepted as a professional reason to request part-time implementation of a Postdoctoral Fellowship project?

Yes - in case this is a permanent position that would benefit the researcher in the long run and provide stability beyond the fellowship duration.

PF: When a researcher is unemployed in the months up to and at the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call deadline, what should they fill out in part A Section 2 Participants - Researcher ‘Current organisation name’ and ‘current department/faculty/institute/laboratory name’?

The information concerning the researcher’s current employer is not mandatory, therefore it can be left blank if the researcher is not employed in any organisation. 

PF: Is an applicant for Postdoctoral Fellowships eligible for the family allowance if they have a “domestic partnership”?

On p. 79 of the MSCA 2026-2027 MSCA Work Programme it is stated that: “the postdoctoral researcher has or acquires family obligations during the action duration, i.e. has persons linked to them by (i) marriage, or (ii) a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the legislation of the country or region where this relationship was formalised; or (iii) dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher, the family allowance must be paid to them as well.”

Domestic partnership may qualify for the MSCA family allowance, only provided that it constitutes a relationship with a status equivalent to marriage and is legally recognised as such by the legislation of the country where the partnership was formalised.

Therefore, eligibility does not depend on the terminology “domestic partnership” itself, but on its legal status under the relevant national legislation. Applicants should provide the relevant official documentation/certificates. 

PF: When completing Form A, the system displays an error message that at least 1 Associated partner organisation located in a Third Country where the outgoing phase will take place is required. What should applicants do?

This warning appears to be related to the new forms engine, which is not yet fully consistent in certain special cases involving countries such as Japan, whose association to Horizon Europe is limited to Pillar II.

For the purposes of the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, Japan is considered a Third Country. Therefore, a Japanese associated partner is eligible to host the outgoing phase of a Global Fellowship. The warning is not blocking, and applicants can proceed with the submission after providing the requested justification. The budget should be calculated correctly, as Japan is correctly recognised as a Third Country in the budget section of the application form.

At this stage, it is recommended to proceed with the submission despite the warning.

PF: Which Country Correction Coefficient (CCC) is applied in case there is a three-month secondment at the European host organisation at the beginning of a Global Fellowship?

Тhe CCC of the third country applies for the three-month secondment at the European host organisation.

PF/ COFUND: Can a Postdoctoral Fellow take part in a secondment within a Staff Exchanges project?

MSCA-funded fellows (either in Doctoral Networks, Postdoctoral Fellowships or COFUND) cannot be seconded within a Staff Exchanges project.

The only way fellows can participate in a Staff Exchanges project would be to suspend their fellowship while on secondment to avoid double funding.