PF: An applicant would like to have a non-academic placement at an EU-based office of the UN Environment Programme whose headquarters are situated in Nairobi. Is it possible?

Non-academic placements must take place in EU Member States or Associated Countries. UNEP’s headquarters are based in Kenya, and their PIC will reference them as an organisation based in a Third Country, even if they have an office in the European Union. As a consequence, the applicant will not be able to include that non-academic placement in the system.

PF: Is it possible to have a secondment at the beginning of the outgoing phase of a Global Fellowship that is hosted not by the beneficiary but by another European organisation?

A secondment in the first months of the outgoing phase in another entity that is not the beneficiary is not advisable.

PF: How can a researcher encode different places of activity and residence during the same period of time in Part A?

It is not possible to encode different countries for the same reference period.

The only recommendation is to indicate the actual physical location in Part A, and to clearly explain the specific situation in Part B2/ CV of the researcher. This clarification may be relevant for the eligibility assessment.

DN: How will RAISE projects be managed?

These projects will be managed by REA and the budget will be based on unit costs.

DN: Will fellows under RAISE be labelled as MSCA Fellows?

Fellows will not be called MSCA fellows but RAISE DN fellows because this is a second chance for projects that would not be funded otherwise (similarly to the ERA Fellows).

PF: Is Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) considered equivalent to a PhD for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call?

If the degree in question is recognised by the local authorities of the Member State / Associated Country where the beneficiary is located as equivalent to a doctoral degree, then REA will consider it as an equivalent of a doctoral degree for the purposes of eligibility to the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call.

PF: What is the difference between inadmissible and non-valid non-academic placements (NAPs) in Postdoctoral Fellowships?

Inadmissible placements are considered NAPs when the placements fulfill all the requirements to be considered as a valid NAP (duration of 6 months after the standard duration of the fellowship and organisation located in EU Member States or Associated Countries), but the organisations are academic instead of non-academic. A non-valid NAP is when one of the requirements is not fulfilled. Assessment is done based on the validation status of the organisation at the time of call closure, with further checks during grant agreement preparation.

PF: Is it just a strong recommendation that proposals should be submitted by a representative of the beneficiary (e.g. supervisor of the proposal) or does the submission system prevent the researcher from submitting the proposal themselves?

On p. 5 of the MSCA PF Guide for Applicants it is stated that indeed the proposal should be submitted by a representative of the beneficiary. This should be read as a strong recommendation. Technically however, the researcher can also submit the proposal in the portal as in previous years.

PF: Would it be acceptable for the supervisor to be employed by the host institution only from the start of the project, i.e. joining the institution at the same time as the fellow?

Yes, it is acceptable.

PF: Could the supervisor be the same person who supervised the applicant during their PhD?

Yes, it is possible.