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The list below provides regularly updated information about available support at national, regional or institutional level for MSCA proposals which have been awarded a Seal of Excellence under MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships or MSCA COFUND actions.
If you are the recipient of an MSCA Seal of Excellence, you may also wish to contact the National Contact Point in your host country to enquire about funding opportunities.
The Seal of Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship@OeAW programme supports promising researchers who applied for an MSCA European Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Academy of Sciences as host institution and who were awarded a Seal of Excellence. A funding of up to 200,000 euros per researcher will enable international talents to realise their creative and innovative potential and to implement their research as well as career development plan at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, fostering excellence through training, supporting mobility and equipping researchers with new skills and competences. The next call for applications will open in May, with a foreseen deadline in June.
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The University of Graz funds applicants under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call whose applications could not be funded due to budget constraints, but who were awarded a Seal of Excellence. Up to three applicants will be awarded a up to one-year PostDoc position at the University.
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Since 2018, the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) supports researchers who have been awarded a Seal of Excellence under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions Postdoctoral European Fellowships (MSCA PF EF). Fellowships are awarded to the eight highest ranking researchers who applied under PF with an FWO eligible Flemish host institution, have received a Seal of Excellence and were ranked on the reserve list, for a duration of 24 months. Candidates receive an invitation to submit an application for a Seal of Excellence fellowship at FWO with a main host institution eligible under its postdoctoral researcher regulation.
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The Bulgarian Science Fund offers funding opportunities under the national scientific programme Petar Beron Research and Innovation with Europe. Applicants to MSCA European Fellowships who received an evaluation score of 80% or above but were not funded by the Commission, with a host organisation in Bulgaria and proposals submitted during the last three calls can apply. Applications will be evaluated by independent external experts, in line with the criteria and procedures of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. The next call will open in July, with a deadline on 30 September 2024.
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The Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) is responsible for the “Horizon 2020 – 2nd Opportunity MSCA” programme under the “RESTART 2016-2020” funding scheme. This includes funding earmarked for MSCA applicants who have received an evaluation score greater or equal to 85%, but could not be funded by the European Commission due to budget constraints.
A call is currently open within the RESTART programme to support MSCA Seal of Excellence recipients who applied to European Postdoctoral Fellowships with a host organisation based in Cyprus. Selected projects can last up to 24 months and up to 30 if they include an industry placement in Cyprus. The deadline for applications is 26 April 2024.
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Proposals evaluated with a score of 70% or above under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call, but which could not be funded due to budget constraints are eligible for funding under the Operational Programme John Amos Comenius (2021-2027), funded under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This initiative supports the international mobility of researchers, i.e. researchers leaving the Czech Republic for a host institution in an EU Member State/Horizon Europe Associated Country and vice-versa, i.e. researchers with a host institution in the Czech Republic. Beyond incoming and outgoing researchers, MSCA Postdoctoral Global Fellowships submitted under Horizon Europe with a host institution in the Czech Republic are also supported.
In addition, from the 2021-2027 programme period, the Czech Republic also intends to support MSCA COFUND projects which received the MSCA Seal of Excellence. Yearly calls are launched in March each year. The next deadline for applicants is 30 August 2024.
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The Estonian Research Council (ETAG) supports researchers who applied for a MSCA PF-EF with an Estonian organisation. Proposals which obtained a score of 70% or above under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call but could not be funded due to budget constraints neither under the MSCA, nor under ERA Fellowships, are eligible for funding. The funding comes from two sources: the Mobilitas 3.0 programme (funded from the European Regional Development Fund) and from the national R&I budget. ETAG does not assess the scientific excellence of the applications but relies on the evaluation report of the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships grant application. Support is granted for up to two years.
Annual calls will be launched from February 2024 onwards.
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The French Hauts-de-France region earmarked a budget of EUR 9,7 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to fund research and innovation projects that have been recognised excellent projects at European level, including projects that have been awarded the MSCA Seal of Excellence. Eligible beneficiaries are higher education institutions, research organisations, technical centres as well as businesses. The projects need to be innovative and address one of the thematic priorities of the region's Smart Specialisation Strategy. They must be mainly carried out in the region and be in line with the regional research and innovation policy. Projects are selected on a "first come, first served" basis until exhaustion of the funding.
The Sorbonne University launched a SoE @SU initiative which aims to fund projects that have been awarded a MSCA Seal of Excellence, starting in 2024. Selected candidates will be offered a two-year Sorbonne University contract. Within three years, they will be required to submit an ERC project proposal with Sorbonne University as host institution. The next call for applications will open in April 2024 for researchers who have been awarded a Seal of Excellence under the 2023 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call.
The State of Hessen is the first regional entity in Germany to support researchers holding a Seal of Excellence for MSCA European Postdoctoral Fellowships. The regional funding scheme is open to applications submitted by a university or research institute situated in Hessen. The State of Hessen is home to some of Germany's leading universities and research institutes, and offers excellent research opportunities for MSCA fellows in a broad range of fields including digitization, climate research and health. Two fellowships will be awarded, with an allowance aligned with the MSCA allowance. Applications from incoming researchers willing to carry out their two year-research project in Hessen shall be submitted to the Hessian Ministry of Research and the Arts by the host university or research institute as soon as MSCA applicants have received their Seal of Excellence certificate.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, an initiative from the Italian Ministry of Research made funding available to 400 young researchers who obtained the MSCA Seal of Excellence. The original proposal which obtained the Seal of Excellence had to be adjusted and re-submitted by an eligible beneficiary, which included State or non-State universities, university institutions; or public research bodies supervised by the Ministry of University and Research. The call closed in October 2022.
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Since 2018, the University of Trento (UniTrento) holds annual internal MSCA PF - Seal of Excellence calls to support researchers who obtained the Seal of Excellence under the MSCA-PF call by funding annual research grants at UniTrento (in the department/center identified in the proposal). The annual grant will be aimed at the implementation of the research activity and the revision of the MSCA-PF project proposal to be resubmitted in the next call. The calls are open to MSCA-PF applicants with UniTrento as Host Institution, and who has been awarded the Seal of Excellence.
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The University of Padova supports MSCA Seal of Excellence awardees. Through a dedicated call for applications, the MSCA Seal of Excellence @UniPD funding programme assigns a grant of 50,000 Euro per year to projects that have the University of Padua as their planned Host Institution and, despite not being funded, have obtained the MSCA Seal of Excellence. The 2024 Seal of Excellence @ UNIPD call is currently open and will close on 30 April 2024.
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The Politecnico di Milano supports the best 5 MSCA European postdoctoral fellows hosted by Politecnico di Milano, not funded by the European Commission but awarded with the MSCA Seal of Excellence. The 5 best Seal of Excellence awardees will be offered a Postdoc position for 2 years with 40.000€/year (gross amount) as salary and 20.000€ for start-up fund for research activities, training and networking.
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The Sapienza University (Università di Roma) supports MSCA Seal of Excellence holders through the Seal of SAPIExcellence initiative, providing 4 fellowships amounting to €50,000 each, for a total of €200,000 per year, to be granted to Sapienza proposals submitted under the MSCA PF call that have been awarded the "Seal of Excellence". The €50,000 fellowship will allow a €40,000 employment contract for each researcher and €10,000 to cover expenses directly related to the research activities (i.e., purchase of laboratory equipment, consumables, travel expenses, etc.).
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The Fondazione Regionale Per La Ricerca Biomedica (Regione Lombardia) holds annual calls to fund recipients of the MSCA Seal of Excellence under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call.
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The University of Siena launches annual calls for researchers who received the MSCA Seal of Excellence for proposals submitted under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call. The University of Siena intends to support researchers for projects in the following academic areas: Economics, Law and Political Science; Humanities, History, Philosophy and Arts; Biomedical and Medical Sciences; and Experimental Sciences. The calls are also open to researchers who did not apply with UNISI as the project host institution.
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Since 2018, the Province of Bolzano supports MSCA Seal of Excellence recipients. To receive funding from the Province of Bolzano, such projects must be implemented at one of the local research performing institutions. Project proposals with an original host institution outside the Province of Bolzano are also eligible provided that the fellow finds a suitable host institution and supervisor in the Province. Furthermore, researchers that have received either a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship or a MSCA Seal of excellence can apply to the international mobility scheme launched by the Province every year with a follow-up project for an additional two-year grant. More information
Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation launched a second Call for Proposals “TRAPEZIO – Paving the way to research excellence and talent attraction” to fund researchers who have been awarded a Seal of Excellence under a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call. The initiative aims to offer Seal of Excellence holders the opportunity to develop their research project at a host institution in Piedmont or Liguria, therefore supporting high quality international projects in the field of research and attracting talented researchers to Italy. The call for proposals is aimed at the following entities with active operational offices in Piedmont and/or Liguria: Universities, Public and Private Non-Profit Research Organizations, Public or Private Research Hospitals, Hospital Trusts and University Hospital Trusts. The next deadline for the submission of applications is 31 May 2024.
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With the "Seal of Excellence - Attraction of talents @UniGe" initiative, the University of Genoa aims to support researchers who applied under the Horizon Europe MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call with Università di Genova as the beneficiary organisation and, despite not having obtained European funding for the proposal due to exhaustion of funds, were awarded a Seal of Excellence. The total budget available is 200,000 euros. The contribution assigned to the selected proposals amounts to 38,470 euros, for a duration of 12 months. Applications can be sent within four months of receiving the Evaluation Summary Commission report. The current call for applications will close on 31 August 2024.
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The University of Pisa launched the MSCA Seal of Excellence @UNIPI call for applications to attract young researchers to carry out research projects of a high international standard. MSCA Seal of Excellence @UNIPI is aimed at researchers of any nationality, who submitted a project proposal under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) call, indicated University of Pisa as beneficiary and received the "Seal of Excellence - MSC Actions” from the European Commission. The University will award up to five two-year research fellowships to Seal of Excellence holders, for an annual amount of 40,000 euros, and will allocate an additional 10,000 euros to the structure hosting the fellowship, as a budget to start the project. The next deadline is 30 April 2024.
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The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania launched a call to support MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) Seal of Excellence recipients, as well as MSCA-PF applicants whose proposals scored above a threshold of 70%. The call will be funded from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the national budget of the Republic of Lithuania. The deadline for applications is 30 April 2026.
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The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) launched the Ulam Programme – Seal of Excellence to support MSCA Seal of Excellence recipients in 2020. The Ulam Programme – Seal of Excellence is dedicated to researchers and national scientific institutions whose proposals were awarded the Seal of Excellence in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships call. Calls for proposals are held every year. The 2024 call is currently open and will close on 15 May 2024.
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As a first example of synergies with the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation launched a call to support up to 50 Seal of Excellence holders under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), provided that their project is carried out at a Romanian host institution.
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The Government of the Slovak Republic established a scheme for MSCA Seal of Excellence holders and applicants with a high score who applied to Postdoctoral Fellowships (excluding Global Fellowships) under Horizon Europe, but failed to be funded due to budget constraints. The scheme targets both holders of the MSCA Seal of Excellence and applicants whose proposals were evaluated with a minimum score of 70%. It is open to applicants who were planning to carry out their project in Slovakia, but also to those whose original host organisation was in another country and are willing to carry out their project in Slovakia. The 2024 call is currently open and will close on 30 April 2024.
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Since 2016, the Slovenian Research Agency supports projects submitted by Slovenian organisations and which were awarded the MSCA Seal of Excellence.
The public call for the Seal of Excellence in Slovenia for MSCA PF 2023 applicants will take place in the second quarter of 2024. The call will be published on the ARIS website. All eligible applicants who have applied under the MSCA PF 2023 call with a Slovenian host organisation and who have been awarded the Seal of Excellence will be able to start their projects with a Slovenian host organisation as early as October 2024.
In addition, a new initiative funded from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds supports successful Slovenian researchers who have been awarded the MSCA Seal of Excellence when applying with a host organisation abroad since 2019. Slovenian applicants who were not awarded the MSCA Seal of Excellence, but whose proposals were evaluated with a score of 70% or above can also apply and may be funded depending on the available budget. This initiative also supports the reintegration of successful applicants to the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships calls for their return to Slovenia after completing their project at the host organisation abroad.
Finally, Slovenia is the first country to support COFUND projects which have been awarded the MSCA Seal of Excellence with national funding, starting from this year.
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The Institute of Health Carlos III launched a scheme ISCIII-HEALTH for MSCA Seal of Excellence holders who applied under Postdoctoral Fellowships calls. The scheme is the third example of Recovery and Resilience Facility funding supporting MSCA Seal of Excellence holders. 6 million EUR will allow young researchers to carry out outstanding projects in Biomedicine and Life Sciences and Technologies in Spanish organisations working in these fields. Selected projects are granted up to 177.000 EUR for projects lasting up to two years.
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Since 2017, the Aragonese Foundation for Research & Development (ARAID) launches calls for applications for candidates with a consolidated track record of high-quality research and a demonstrated capacity for leadership to join any of the research and innovation centres in Aragon, in the following research areas: Health, biotechnology and biomedicine; Energy and sustainable mobility; Environment and natural resources; Agri-food; Heritage, social and cultural development; Digital technologies; New materials and processes; Physics of matter and space.
These calls are not reserved to Seal of Excellence holders and any researcher who complies with the eligibility criteria set in the call can apply. The last call offered a maximum of 12 full-time research positions.
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The Swedish Research Council provides funding to recipients of the MSCA Seal of Excellence to European Postdoctoral Fellowships projects to be hosted by Swedish organisations, but who could not be financed under the MSCA due to budget constraints. The number of funded Seal of Excellence projects are limited and depend on the available budget.
The Swedish Research Council contacts directly the eligible organisations that will be hosting these projects, and who shall apply for the grant. The grant must only be used to fund activities in Sweden, and the grant period is 12–24 months, depending on the grant period applied for in the original proposal.
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Since 2018, the "Seal of Excellence Fund" (SELF) is an internal grant of the University of Bern to employ excellent international researchers at postdoctoral level whose MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships applications with the University of Bern were not funded, but awarded the MSCA Seal of Excellence. SELF provides matching funds to the financial support of the institute to employ these researchers for a minimum of 6 months and maximum 2 years at the University of Bern.
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Attention: The SELF scheme is currently suspended as Switzerland is currently considered a third country in Horizon Europe. Please consult the SELF webpage to know about the possible future resumption of the scheme.
Recipients of the Seal of Excellence with any other Swiss host institute are encouraged to resubmit in the next call and to contact their NCP for the proposal preparation.
Alternative funding sources for experienced researchers interested in pursuing research in Switzerland (although not specifically targeting or prioritising SoE holders) include, for example, calls by the Swiss National Science Foundation or the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships.
In addition to the above, Austria provides funding for experienced researchers through different national programmes. These funding schemes are not restricted to MSCA Seal of Excellence candidates. Applications are peer reviewed and subject to specific eligibility criteria.
The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's central funding organisation for basic research and offers funding through the Erwin Schrödinger Fellowships and the ESPRIT career programme.
We also recommend consulting the Austrian Database for Scholarships and Research Grants.
Recipients of the MSCA PF Seal of Excellence who fulfil the specific eligibility requirements are encouraged to apply to funding schemes of the Fund for Scientific Research – FNRS, in particular the mandate for postdoctoral researcher. These funding schemes are not restricted to MSCA Seal of Excellence candidates. Applications are peer reviewed.
Applicants are also encouraged to visit EURAXESS Belgium for more information on research jobs and funding in Belgium.
Finland has no relevant national/regional funding scheme available for MSCA PF applicants who received the Seal of Excellence.
Recipients of the Seal are encouraged to resubmit in the next call and, where appropriate, contact the national contact point for the proposal preparation.
Alternative funding sources for experienced researchers interested in pursuing research in Finland (although not specifically targeting or prioritising Seal of Excellence holders) include, for example, calls by the Academy for Finland.
Germany has no relevant national funding scheme available for MSCA PF candidates with the Seal of Excellence.
Recipients of the Seal of Excellence are encouraged to resubmit in the next call and, where appropriate, contact the national contact point for the proposal preparation.
Experienced researchers willing to pursue research in Germany should visit Research in Germany for further information on alternative funding schemes.
There is a range of fellowship opportunities in Ireland provided by government research funding agencies and other bodies.
Most notably, there are a number of fellowship programmes running in Ireland that are co-funded by the MSCA COFUND programme. Our three main national research funding agencies (see below) also offer fellowship programmes that are fully funded by the Irish government.
Applications are subject to rigorous international peer review and each programme has its own specific eligibility criteria which must be adhered to.
Please note that these programmes are not exclusive to Seal of Excellence holders, neither are Seal of Excellence holders prioritised in the assessment process. However, Seal of Excellence holders are encouraged to include information on their Seal of Excellence award in their application as evidence of their track record.
More information on current and forthcoming MSCA COFUND programmes in Ireland
National Funders
Applicants are also encouraged to visit EURAXESS Ireland for more information on research jobs and funding in Ireland.
Norway has no relevant national or regional funding scheme available for MSCA IF candidates with the Seal of Excellence.
Recipients of the MSCA Seal of Excellence are encouraged to resubmit their proposal in the next call and, where appropriate, contact the local EU-advisor at the host organisation or the national contact point for the proposal preparation.
Norway provides funding for experienced researchers through national programmes. The Research Council of Norway has annual calls for "Researcher projects for young talents" and "Three-year Researcher Project with International Mobility". Applications must be sent from a Norwegian university or research institution. The funding schemes are not restricted to MSCA Seal of Excellence applicants and neither are they prioritized. Applications are peer reviewed and subject to specific eligibility criteria.
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In Spain there are no specific mechanisms or budgetary allocations for funding MSCA Seal of Excellence recipients at regional and/or institutional level.
The Research and Innovation State Agency runs different national funding schemes supporting researchers. For further information on funding calls at national level, please consult the Researcher Career Path created by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology.
The UK provides funding for early-career researchers through a variety of funding schemes provided by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Academies.
These funding schemes are not restricted to MSCA Seal of Excellence applicants and neither are they prioritised. Applications are peer reviewed and subject to specific eligibility criteria. Further details are available at:
UK Research and Innovation UKRI
National Academies