PF: A researcher has worked in Canada for many years and is looking to return to their home country. Is Canada considered a third country?

As outlined in the 2023-2025 MSCA Work Programme (p.140), for the purpose of MSCA Canada falls under the classification of a third country, signifying its status outside the EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, despite being associated to Pillar II of Horizon Europe. Therefore, research conducted in Canada would not count towards the maximum years of experience for nationals and long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries seeking reintegration in research within the EU or Associated Countries.

According to the Work Programme (p. 121) “researchers wishing to reintegrate from a third country must either be based in a third country at the call deadline or have moved directly from a third country to an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country within the last 12 months before the call deadline”.

PF: Could a research break due to Covid lock-downs count as a career break and thus be deducted from the 8 years of research experience eligibility criteria?

According to the Guidelines on the calculation of 8-years research experience in Postdoctoral Fellowships under Horizon Europe, “The rule of the 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research after the PhD can be extended (in days) for the following reasons: […] Career break; Time spent not working in research (career breaks are not included in this section). The period spent in a non-research position should be completely deducted from the FTE experience in research. However, for a period spent in a research position, the time spent outside of your main research activity (including teaching) could be deducted as a percentage of FTE provided that it can be documented by e.g. work contract/job description and quantified based on documentation/proof which the host organisation (beneficiary) needs to keep for their records (not to be included in the proposal).” 

Considering the above, if a researcher could not engage in research due to force majeure (such as COVID-19), two theoretical options emerge:

-          If their employment contract was suspended, and no work was performed, that period is deductible.

-          If the employment contract remained active (not suspended) and the researcher conducted non-research tasks, deductions can be made based on a percentage of full-time equivalent (FTE).

In both scenarios, it’s essential for the beneficiary to maintain pertinent evidence such as work contracts or job descriptions. Deductions should be quantified based on documented proof, although this evidence is not to be included in the proposal but rather retained for the host organisation’s records in case of audits.

PF: How are the 8-years research experience calculated - from the date of the proposal submission or from the date of call deadline?

On page 93 of the MSCA Work Programme, it’s mentioned that “At the call deadline, supported researchers must have a maximum of 8 years fulltime equivalent experience in research, measured from the date of award of the doctoral degree.”

Researchers need to satisfy the criterion as of 11 September 2024 which is the call deadline for the 2024 Postdoctoral Fellowships call according to the latest version of the Work Programme. Researchers need to measure this from the date of award of their doctoral degrees.

There are some exceptions calculating these 8 years of full time research experience. Years of experience outside research and career breaks will not count towards the above maximum, nor will years of experience in research in third countries, for nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to Europe.

Applicants can check the following pages for more information:

Postdoctoral Fellowships - call 2023

Guidelines on the calculation of 8-years research experience in Postdoctoral Fellowships under Horizon Europe

Postdoctoral Fellowships Self-assessment tool for the calculation of the 8-years research experience