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Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellowships offer researchers the opportunity to enhance their careers through advanced training, and cross-border and cross-sector mobility.
MSCA fellowships are open to all research and innovation areas, from basic research to market take-up and innovation services, with topics chosen by applicants in a fully bottom-up manner. There are 2 main types of MSCA contracts:
2023 MSCA Doctoral Networks and Postdoctoral Fellowship programmes are funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Horizon Europe guarantee funding. See our Funding for current projects section below for further information.
MSCA Doctoral Networks
MSCA Doctoral Networks (previously known as Innovative Training Networks) fund doctoral programmes for early-stage researchers to respond to current and future challenges.
They enable researchers to convert their knowledge and ideas into products and services for economic and social benefit and provide transferable skills training to enhance their careers.
The programme is set up by partnerships of organisations from across Europe and beyond.
Eligibility criteria
Early-stage researchers (Fellows) are typically enrolled on a PhD programme. Recruited researchers should be enrolled on a doctoral programme during the project but should not have a doctoral degree at the date of their recruitment.
Researchers funded by Doctoral Networks can be of any nationality. Candidates should not have lived or carried out their main activity in the UK for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before their recruitment.
Candidates can apply for PhD vacancies funded by MSCA Doctoral Networks projects through the EURAXESS portal.
What does the funding cover?
The duration of each fellowship is between 3 and 36 months. Researchers are provided with a living allowance, a mobility allowance, and if applicable, a family allowance (if married and/or with responsibility for dependent children). Allowances include the cost of employment for UCL, employer National Insurance (NI) and pension contributions.
Fellows are paid a fixed salary during the fellowship with no annual increments and the current London Allowance, which qualifies for adjustments. There are 4 possible levels of basic salary, as shown in the table below, depending on whether the Fellow has dependents and if they opt out of the SAUL pension scheme. You can find out more about Pensions on the UCL HR website.
Salaries are based on MSCA-awarded rates from the Work Programme 2023-24. If the appointment is for a Doctoral Network project awarded for a different Work Programme you should contact our Award Services Post-Award team at ecpostaward@ucl.ac.uk for costing advice.
| Fellow type | Basic (no increment) | London Allowance (LA) | Top-up (annual) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fellow - dependents, no pension | £28,759 | £5,000 | £13,000 | £46,759 |
| Fellow - dependents, pension | £28,759 | £5,000 | £5,700 | £39,459 |
| Fellow - dependents, no pension | £28,759 | £5,000 | £7,900 | £41,659 |
| Fellow - dependents, pension | £28,759 | £5,000 | £1,400 | £35,159 |
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships support researcher careers and foster excellence in research. The fellowships are aimed at researchers with a PhD who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers. They help researchers to gain experience in other countries, disciplines and non-academic sectors.
There are 2 types of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships:
- European Postdoctoral Fellowships, where the Fellow is based here at UCL.
- Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, where the fellow is seconded to a third country for 1-2 years and has a mandatory third-year reintegration at UCL.
Eligibility criteria
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will be open to excellent researchers of any nationality. Projects are solely awarded to the individual and UCL.
Candidates will need to identify a UCL Principal Investigator (PI) to act as their Supervisor and contact them to find out whether they would support you carrying out your fellowship in their group. If accepted, the researcher and PI should work together to develop and submit the proposal on the European Commission's Funding and Tenders Portal by the call deadline.
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunities are also advertised on the EURAXESS portal.
What does the funding cover?
The fellowships will be open to excellent researchers of any nationality. The projects are solely awarded to the individual and UCL. The 2 mail sub-awards are European Fellowships (EF), where the fellow is based here at UCL, and Global Fellowships (GF), where the fellow is seconded to a third country for 1-2 years and has a mandatory third-year reintegration at UCL.
For EF, each fellow’s contract comprises living, mobility and family allowances (dependents at the time of recruitment or during the project) as awarded by the scheme. Due to the nature of GF projects, the salary and top-up allowances will need to be pre-costed. Contact the Award Services Post-Award team at ecpostaward@ucl.ac.uk in advance for advice.
All allowances awarded include the cost of employment for UCL, employer NI and pension contributions, as per EC regulations highlighted in section 1.1 “Applicable unit contributions” of the MSCA WP. Annual allowances are shown in the table below:
| Fellow type | Basic (no increment | London Allowance (LA) | Top-up (annual) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fellow - dependents, no pension | £37,099 | £5,000 | £24,500 | £66,599 |
| Fellow - dependents, pension | £37,099 | £5,000 | £16,500 | £58,599 |
| Fellow - dependents, no pension | £37,099 | £5,000 | £19,000 | £61,099 |
| Fellow - dependents, pension | £37,099 | £5,000 | £12,000 | £54,099 |
These rates relate to the MSCA awarded rates from the WP 2023-24. If the appointment is for a PF project awarded for a different WP these rates should not be used. Contact ecpostaward@ucl.ac.uk for a bespoke costing.
Important: if the Fellow is already a UCL employee a bespoke costing will need to be done. Contact the Award Services Post-Award (Europe) team ecpostaward@ucl.ac.uk for advice.
Fellows will be paid the current London Allowance which will qualify for adjustments. There are 4 possible levels of basic salary depending on whether they have dependents and whether they opt out of USS pension membership. All employees are auto-enrolled in the pension scheme, the Fellows will need to contact HR to opt out. You can find out more about Pensions on the UCL HR website. Costings include the living, mobility and family (if applicable) allowances.
Funding for current projects
MSCA projects are currently funded by UKRI Horizon Europe guarantee funding. For more information about the UKRI Horizon Europe guarantee, visit our Horizon Europe webpage.
Information on allowances can be found in section 1.1, ‘Applicable unit contributions’, of the EC MSCA 2023-2025 Work Programme (pdf), via the European Commission website
The 2024 conversion rate is £1 = €1.148787 (or €1=£0.87048). The rate is revised by UKRI every year. UCL applies a conservative rate of 92% and a one-off salary payment will be organised at the end of the fellowship if a salary balance is due.
European Commission allowances
The EU contribution under MSCA is based on unit costs expressed in person-months. Costs are indicated in EUR (€) in the tables below:
Researcher costs per month
| MSCA contract | Living allowance* | Mobility allowance | Family allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctoral Networks | €3,400 | €600 | €660 |
| Postdoctoral Fellowships | €5,080 | €600 | €660 |
* A country correction coefficient applies to living allowance. This coefficient is the 1 applicable to the researcher's host organisation as listed in the MSCA Work Program. For 2023-2024, the UK’s country correction coefficient is 136.9%.
Institutional costs per month
| MSCA contract | Research, training and networking costs | Management and indirect costs |
|---|---|---|
| Doctoral Networks | €3,400 | €600 |
| Postdoctoral Fellowships | €5,080 | €600 |