PF: When do the ranking lists for Postdoctoral Fellowships calls close definitively?

The first batch of reserve list proposals can be promoted to the main list at the earliest two months after the official launch of the GAP, but sometimes after several months (depending on the outcome of the redress procedure).

Proposals in the reserve list can be promoted to the main list until the end of the year following the call deadline (for the 2023 call – until 31 December 2024).

PF: How long can proposals stay on the reserve list?

Based on previous calls, if successful applicants decline their award and thus do not sign their Grant Agreement, this would open places on the reserve list. In this case, applicants on the reserve list are expected to be approached by the end of summer/ early autumn. However, the reserve list stays open until immediately before the results of the next call are announced. So applicants can actually be funded of the reserve list until that point.

PF: Will the situation with the UK association have an impact on projects on the MSCA-PF 2022 reserve list?

If the UK is not associated to Horizon Europe by the final deadline of the Grant Agreement (17 May 2023), then the proposals of successful 2022 MSCA PF applicants with UK hosts will be declared ineligible. Please note that in 2021, these applicants were declared ineligible, together with applicants on the main list, as association had not taken place by the Grant Agreement deadline. Accordingly, these applicants were taken off the reserve list as well.

PF: What happens with the Seal of Excellence for projects on the reserve list?

The Seal of Excellence will be awarded according to the 2021-2022 MSCA WP, p.92: Seals of Excellence will be awarded to applications with a total score equal to or higher than 85%, but which cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call.

PF: Has the GAP with successful applicants from the 2021 MSCA PF call been already closed or applicants on the reserve list can still expect to be invited by REA to start the GAP process?

As of November 2022, GAPs with reserve list applicants under the PF 2021 call are still being launched based on the available budget. A very small number of applicants can still expect to receive an invitation to launch the GAP, especially since the PF 2021 budget expires at the end of 2022.

PF: Can projects on the Postdoctoral Fellowships reserve list possibly start later than the latest possible start date for the call, when informed at a very late stage?

For the Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 call, including for applicants from the reserve list, 1 September 2023 is the latest possible start date for projects. However, should the researcher/ beneficiary experience issues nearer to the start date that might prevent them from beginning their project on time, then they should contact their Project Officer to see what flexibility might be available, on a case-by-case basis.

DN: How likely it is that a proposal on the reserve list will be funded? Is this less common in consortia type of projects (versus the PF for example)?

The number of funded DN projects from the reserve list is normally lower than these from the PF reserve list.