PF: For Doctoral Networks it is specified that the secondment costs must be reimbursed for secondments of six months or less, but a duration is not specified for Postdoctoral Fellowships. Does it mean that in PF it is mandatory to reimburse secondments costs whatever the duration?

For MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, the costs related to secondments, non-academic placements (NAP), and - where applicable - the outgoing phase of Global Fellowships (e.g. researcher travel costs, course or conference attendance expenses, etc.) must be covered by the Research, Training and Networking (RTN) contribution, provided that these activities are eligible, foreseen in the Grant Agreement, and carried out within the allowed duration.

Consequently, there is no flexibility to exclude or withhold reimbursement of such costs solely on the basis of their duration, as long as the activities comply with the maximum lengths set out in the Work Programme and are included in the Grant Agreement (Description of Action). The absence of a specific duration limit for Postdoctoral Fellowships in the MSCA Financial guide should therefore be understood as allowing coverage for the full eligible period, rather than implying that reimbursement is optional.

PF: Which unit contribution covers the secondments costs in a Postdoctoral Fellowship?

On p. 36 of the MSCA Financial guide, it is written that:

“The research, training and networking contribution covers costs related to the training and research expenses of researchers/staff members as well as costs related to the transfer of knowledge and networking activities (e.g. costs for participation in conferences, trips related to work on the action, training or language courses, seminars, lab material, books, library records, publication costs, visa-related fees, even if incurred before the recruitment date) as well as:

− MSCA-DN: additional costs arising from each secondment of six months or less, which requires mobility from the place of residence (e.g. travel and accommodation costs)

− MSCA-PF: additional costs arising from secondments, non-academic placements and outgoing phase in MSCA-PF GF.”

DN: Some institutions enroll PhD candidates in doctoral programmes only once a year (in October) but job contracts based on the Doctoral Networks Grant Agreement can start earlier. Can beneficiaries apply for funding of person-months before October if the fellow is involved in project activities and has signed a job contract?

Projects decide when they should recruit the doctoral candidates (usually around M6 but they have some flexibility between M1 and M12 of the project). The moment a fellow is recruited, the recruiting beneficiary becomes eligible to receive the corresponding institutional costs ((i) research, training & networking, (ii) management & indirect costs). However, the candidate should be well informed and agree to start the PhD later.

Please note that the PhD enrollment is an obligation in the Doctoral Networks.

 

All Actions: Applicants that have one PIC number (one legal entity), but have offices in different countries, how should they proceed with regard to eligibility and budget?

Staff Exchanges:

For the case of SE, please see footnote 101 on p. 88 of the Work Programme 2026-2027 which states:

“Secondments to and from branches and departments without separate legal personality that are part of legal entities established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can take place with entities established in any country other than the country where they are physically located and the country of their mother legal entity.”

Doctoral Networks:

As mentioned in footnote 74 on p. 72 of the MSCA Work Programme 2026-2027:

“In exceptional cases, where a beneficiary is established in a country different from the place where the recruited researcher is hosted, the country correction coefficient of the hosting entity is taken into account during the grant agreement preparation process, in order to ensure the correct budget calculation.”

However, this exception should not be used to circumvent the Horizon Europe rules for participation.

Postdoctoral Fellowships:

As mentioned in footnote 84 on p. 78 of the MSCA Work Programme 2026-2027:

“In exceptional cases, where a beneficiary is established in a country different from the place where the recruited researcher is hosted, the country correction coefficient of the hosting entity is taken into account during the grant agreement preparation process, in order to ensure the correct budget calculation.”

PF: Under what circumstances could a Postdoctoral research fellow participate in 2 PF grants concurrently?

A researcher cannot participate in two MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship grants at the same time. 

On p. 22 of the Model Grant Agreement it is specified that the recruited researcher must work exclusively on the action unless part-time for professional reasons has been approved.

On p. 12 of the MSCA Financial Guide it says that part-time work may not be requested to participate in another MSCA grant at the same time.

Moreover, on p. 15 of the MSCA Financial Guide it is stipulated that a researcher cannot benefit from two Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions at the same time.

PF: In some countries in order to have an adequate social security coverage, the fellow needs to end their contract with at least one month in the country of their employment contract and thus such fellows cannot have a non-academic placement (NAP) or go on a secondment in another country. What can be done in these cases?

The NAP can take place in the same country as the beneficiary, but in the non-academic sector. A good planning and thorough discussion between the researcher and beneficiary prior to submission of the proposal would clarify these issues. The beneficiary can also extend the contract with their own funds after the end of the Postdoctoral Fellowship.

The timing of secondments is more flexible, as long as the activities in the Annex 1 – i.e. those already evaluated by independent experts – are fulfilled.

 

PF: What happens if a fellow cannot get a visa for the third country where their Global Fellowships host for the outgoing phase is located?

For visa or other administrative matters, the Global fellows can spend at the beginning of their outgoing phase up to 3 months at the beneficiary premises (this is considered as part of the secondment and counts towards the maximum period). If these 3 months are not enough to obtain the necessary visa or make proper arrangements, the beneficiary has to suspend the fellowship and pay the fellow from their own funds until the MSCA researcher is able to move to the host of the outgoing phase. Mobility to the outgoing phase is an eligibility matter, like the mandatory 12-month return phase.

PF: In case a period of sick leave does not qualify as “long-term leave”, i.e. less than 30 days, does the beneficiary in a Postdoctoral Fellowship have to bear the costs? How is it to be dealt with and calculated?

In Postdoctoral Fellowships, a sick leave of less than 30 consecutive days does not trigger the long-term leave allowance, hence whether the host institution must bear the cost depends on what the employer normally does under national law.

It is possible, although not mandatory, to suspend the project for a period of less than 30 days, but  that time period will not be covered by the long-term leave allowance.

As long as the long-term leave allowance and suspension are not triggered, the standard living allowance + mobility allowance (and other standard unit costs) remain eligible under the project.

MSCA PF uses unit costs, and the living and mobility allowances must indeed be used for the benefit of the researcher. However, this does not mean that the full unit-cost amount must be paid as salary in every circumstance and fully top up the sick leave allowance.

National employment legislation and employment contracts always apply. The MSCA rules do not override these legal entitlements, and the beneficiary must not bypass the sick-leave process.

 

PF: Regarding the 8-year Research Experience rule, what type of supporting documentation is acceptable to prove exceptions? Should such evidence be uploaded as an annex to Part B2?

The required documentation is equivalent to that required for the other eligibility conditions under the call: providing self-declarations is not sufficient (e.g. an official letter from a professor does not constitute an official document, a copy of the contract – or similar proof - is needed.).

In Part B2 of the proposal there should be NO such evidence annexed – the proposal should strictly follow the template for the respective call with dedicated sections. All supporting documents must be provided by the fellow to the beneficiary at the moment of their recruitment.

 

All Actions: When applying the mobility rule, what should be considered as the ‘main activity’ in the case of applicants with double activity - for example, candidates studying for a double diploma or candidates studying in one country and working remotely in another one?

REA uses a strict approach, meaning that for both examples the recruiting entities should check the mobility rule against both countries (even for remote work).

For Doctoral Networks, the doctoral candidates should be eligible at their recruitment date.

For Postdoctoral Fellowships, the fellows should be eligible at the date of the call closure.

For COFUND, the fellows should be eligible at the deadline of the co-funded programme’s call.