Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions award €404.3 million to postdoctoral researchers in Europe and beyond

The European Commission is awarding €404.3 million to postdoctoral researchers as part of its 2025 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships. 

The initiative will empower 1,610 postdoctoral researchers, selected from 17,066 international applicants, to develop their own projects, while receiving high-quality training, international mobility opportunities, and expert supervision at academic and non-academic institutions. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to excellent researchers of any nationality.

The 2025 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships are part of the Horizon Europe framework, the EU’s multi-billion programme for research.

The selected fellows represent nearly 80 nationalities. They will carry out their research projects in 45 countries in Europe and beyond, working at universities, research centres, public institutions, private organisations and small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Their projects span all scientific disciplines. The strongest representation is in social sciences and humanities, life sciences and engineering and actions range from fundamental research to projects directly addressing major societal and technological challenges.

Most of the funding will support European Postdoctoral Fellowships, enabling 1,446 researchers to work in the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe. In addition, 164 researchers will benefit from Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. This will allow them to carry out part of their research in leading institutions outside Europe – notably in the United States, Canada and Australia – before returning to Europe to share the knowledge and experience they will have garnered within their institution.

“The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships show once again why researchers choose Europe,” Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, said. “These results reflect the strength of our research ecosystem and our commitment to supporting scientific excellence, openness and mobility.”

The next call for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships is planned to open on 9 April 2026.

2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Since 1996, the programme has advanced research and innovation, supporting over 150,000 researchers, including 23 Nobel Prize winners.

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Press release