Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

What Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions does

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) is the European Union's flagship funding programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training, established in 1996 and operating under the Horizon Europe framework (2021-2027). It is not a commercial entity but a public grant programme managed by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), with implementation handled by the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Since inception, MSCA has supported over 150,000 researchers and is associated with 23 Nobel Prize laureates as fellows, supervisors, or project coordinators.

MSCA's product portfolio consists of interconnected funding actions: Doctoral Networks implement doctoral programmes through partnerships of organisations from different sectors; Postdoctoral Fellowships support PhD holders conducting research abroad (European and Global variants); Staff Exchanges fund short-term international and inter-sectoral mobility; COFUND co-finances regional, national, and international training programmes; MSCA and Citizens brings research to the public through European Researchers' Night and Researchers at Schools; and Choose Europe for Science is a 2025 pilot action addressing researcher precarity. Supporting frameworks include the MSCA Green Charter for sustainable research and Guidelines on Supervision aligned with the European Charter for Researchers. The programme is open to all disciplines and sectors, with approximately 8,000 researchers supported annually across more than 150 nationalities.

MSCA distributes funding through a channel-driven model: applicants submit proposals via the European Commission's Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal, with guidance from National Contact Points in each country and job postings via the EURAXESS portal. Funding covers living allowances, mobility allowances, and programme costs for researchers and host organisations, with award amounts varying by action (e.g., up to €3.5 million per beneficiary for Choose Europe for Science; up to €10 million per COFUND call). As a public grant programme, MSCA does not generate commercial revenue; its budget is allocated through EU multi-annual financial frameworks under Horizon Europe.

Name

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Legal name

European Commission - Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture

Website

https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The European Union's flagship funding programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training under Horizon Europe, MSCA supports approximately 8,000 researchers annually across 150+ nationalities through grants managed by DG EAC and REA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Funding Programme

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Grants, Fellowships & Stipends (International) (EDAIAOAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Government-Sponsored Scholarships & Exchange Funding (EDAIAOAF), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB), Degree-Level Scholarships (Undergrad/Masters/PhD/Postdoc) (EDAIAOAE), Scholarships, Grants & Education Benefits Administration (Financing-adjacent) (FSAKAEAM), Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Research fellowship funding
• Doctoral training programmes
• Postdoctoral mobility grants
• Research career development
• Horizon Europe funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Others, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. EU Research Funding (Grant Disbursements): MSCA is a European Union funding programme that provides grants to support doctoral education and postdoctoral training of researchers. Funding covers living allowances, mobility allowances, and programme costs for researchers and host organisations. The programme is part of Horizon Europe (2021-2027) with its own dedicated work programme.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions is the European Union's flagship funding programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training under Horizon Europe. It distributes grants to international consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and non-academic organisations to fund doctoral programmes, postdoctoral fellowships, staff exchanges, and co-funded training schemes. Funding covers living allowances, mobility allowances, institutional and programme costs, and operates through standardised application and peer-review processes managed via the European Commission's digital infrastructure.

Product overview

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) is the European Union's flagship funding programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training under Horizon Europe (2021-2027). The programme consists of multiple interconnected actions: Doctoral Networks and Postdoctoral Fellowships form the core of researcher support, while Staff Exchanges enables international collaboration. COFUND co-finances regional, national and international training programmes, and Choose Europe for Science addresses researcher precarity with longer-term employment prospects. MSCA and Citizens (European Researchers' Night) brings science to the public. Supporting frameworks include the Green Charter for sustainable research practices and Guidelines on Supervision for best practices. Together these actions support researchers at all career stages, promote mobility across borders and sectors, and set standards for excellent working conditions across Europe.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• European Research Executive Agency (REA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe European Research Executive Agency manages the MSCA on behalf of the European Commission. REA handles the application eligibility checks, evaluation processes, grant agreements, and ongoing programme management for all MSCA actions.
• Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDG EAC is the European Commission department responsible for MSCA policy and programme design. It manages the MSCA website and communications, sets programme objectives and work programmes, and oversees the Digital Services Team.
• National Contact Points (NCPs)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMSCA National Contact Points in EU Member States and Associated Countries provide guidance and support to applicants. They help navigate application processes, participation rules, and specific requirements for each MSCA action.
• Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal MSCA alumni community spanning more than 150 nationalities. MCAA serves as an ambassador network for European science worldwide, continuing collaboration beyond individual project lifetimes.
• EURAXESScoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEU's portal for researchers providing thousands of job postings, hosting offers, and services. EURAXESS helps researchers find PhD and postdoctoral positions funded by MSCA, with daily updates and country-specific information on visas, pensions, taxation, and qualifications.
• European Charter for ResearcherscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA set of principles underpinning attractive research careers. MSCA promotes the Charter's principles, which outline roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers as well as employers and funders of researchers.
• Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of ResearcherscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSCA promotes excellence in recruitment practices aligned with this Code. The Code sets standards for transparent and open recruitment processes in line with European Charter principles.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): Germany's DFG is the largest national research funding organisation in Europe, funding individual researchers, collaborative research centres and training programmes (including its own Research Training Groups). It is directly comparable to MSCA's training and mobility actions at the national level.
• European Research Council (ERC): The ERC is the EU's flagship funding programme for frontier investigator-driven research under Horizon Europe. It is MSCA's closest structural peer — both are EU-level talent/research funding instruments with similar governance through REA, and they address overlapping populations of top European researchers.
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS): JSPS runs international research fellowships and postdoctoral exchange programmes for foreign researchers in Japan. Its fellowship offerings are functionally comparable to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships as a non-EU government mobility and training scheme.
• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF): The SNSF is Switzerland's primary national research funder, including dedicated mobility fellowships and postdoctoral programmes. As a non-EU Switzerland-based Horizon Europe Associated Country funder, it is a closely comparable national-level peer to MSCA.
• DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service): DAAD funds international academic exchange, doctoral funding and postdoctoral mobility programmes globally. It is a closely comparable peer to MSCA in mission and beneficiary population, though it operates at the national (German) level rather than EU-wide.
• Alexander von Humboldt Foundation: Germany's Humboldt Foundation runs Humboldt Research Fellowships and research awards for international researchers — directly comparable to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships in providing internationally mobile, merit-based research funding for doctoral and postdoctoral scholars.
• Fulbright Program: The US Fulbright Program is a flagship international academic exchange and fellowship programme supporting researchers and graduate students across borders. It is broadly comparable to MSCA in mission, scale and visibility as a globally recognised research mobility programme.

Broad incumbents

• National Science Foundation (NSF): The NSF is the principal US federal agency funding fundamental research and graduate education. It is a comparable scale public funder of doctoral and postdoctoral research, but with a much broader research portfolio than MSCA's narrower mobility/training focus.
• National Institutes of Health (NIH): The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, with extensive postdoctoral training and career development programmes (e.g., F32, K awards). It is a broad incumbent peer in scale and mission, but specialised to biomedical/health research rather than MSCA's bottom-up, all-discipline approach.
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI): UKRI is the UK's national research and innovation funding body, encompassing research councils that fund doctoral training, postdoctoral fellowships and mobility. It is a broader-incumbent peer operating at national scale with overlapping talent-development functions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MSCActions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mscactions

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions