The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship is a prestigious research grant funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme. It is designed to support early career researchers undertaking international mobility to advance their careers by conducting research, acquiring new skills, and working with and learning from experienced supervisors.

Types of Fellowships:

• European Fellowships:
  • For researchers moving within Europe or from outside to an EU country or HE associated country.
  • Duration: 12-24 months.
    
    

• Global Fellowships:
  • For EU-based researchers moving to a third country (e.g., USA, Canada, Japan) for 12-24 months, followed by a mandatory 12-month return phase in Europe.

Additional options to be considered:

• • Secondment – optional stay in any country worldwide within the overall duration of the fellowship. It must not exceed 1/3 of the requested duration of the project (in European PF) or 1/3 of the requested duration of the outgoing phase (in Global PF). In Global PF, the secondment cannot take place during the mandatory return phase.
    
    
  • Non-academic placement – optional stay at the end of the project in an organization from the non-academic sector based in an EU country or HE associated country.

• Call MSCA-2025-PF opened for submission HERE.
  
  
• TC Prague: workshop "How to write a competitive proposal for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship 2025 call" (3. - 4. 6. 2025) - online, registration until 26. 5. 2025!
  
  
• MU: MSCA-PF Workshop for applicants (29. - 30. 5. 2025) – only for those who submit the short project canvas and attended Training Day for MSCA-PF applicants.

• Supported fellows must hold a doctorate (must have defended their doctoral thesis at the day of the call deadline at the latest).
• At the call deadline, the applicant must have max. 8 years of full-time equivalent experience in research.
• Researchers of any nationality who comply with the mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the country of the beneficiary (for European PF), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global PF) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.
• Check your eligibility using this tool.

• Strengthening the research team: a postdoc can bring new expertise and methodological approaches, which can help expand the supervisor's research portfolio. Postdoc can help with the supervision of PhD students, teaching, and mentoring other early career scientists in the team.
• Publications: collaborative research with the postdoc will lead to more high-quality publications, which will improve the supervisor's scientific profile.
• Financial support: the MSCA PF not only funds the salary of a postdoc but also brings in research funds, which will expand the capacity of the research group.
• International prestige and networking: involvement in MSCA enhances the reputation of the supervisor and his/her institution (higher chances of getting another MSCA fellow) and allows the development of new collaborations and involvement in prestigious European networks.

• Career development: the MSCA-PF emphasises comprehensive career development, providing opportunities to acquire new skills and gain experience in different countries, disciplines, and sectors. It fosters independence and helps researchers to establish their own research profile.
• International mobility: allows researchers to expand their networks and gain exposure to different research environments.
• Financial support: funds a competitive salary and costs of various research, training, and networking activities.
• Enhanced research and transferable skills: the fellowship provides opportunities to conduct cutting-edge research and advance knowledge in the chosen field. It also promotes the development of transferable skills, such as project management, communication and grant writing, which are valuable in both academic and non-academic careers.

MSCA-PF is a highly competitive competition. For a postdoc to qualify for direct support from the European MSCA-PF programme, their proposal must typically score around 93%, which is achieved by 10–15% of applicants.

However, in addition to this core competition, there are two other alternative funding sources:

• ERA Fellowship - additional support is allocated to accommodate a larger number of applicants from Widening countries, including the Czech Republic. The required score is approximately 90%. Approximately 20–30% of applicants are in the 90%–100% range.
  
  
• MEYS OP JAK – a programme of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for applicants whose proposal has been assessed as being of high quality (so far a rating of 70% or more, which is surpassed by approximately 70–80% of applicants. 

The level of evaluation depends on the quality of the scientific proposal and career plan, the quality of the applicant and the supervisor, but approximately 90% of applications at MUNI have been evaluated above 70% in recent years and these applications are therefore eligible to apply for support from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

We are looking for experienced scientists and former MSCA-PF grant holders who are interested in reviewing MSCA-PF projects at MU and/or want to participate in the evaluation of MSCA-PF proposals. We offer two opportunities for you to get involved:

Internal proposal review:

• You will join our group of scientists with experience of the MSCA-PF scheme who are willing to provide feedback on MSCA-PF proposals prepared at MU.
• You will help to improve the quality of project applications and support less experienced fellow scientists in their career development.
• If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Veronika Mikitova.

Evaluation of proposals in the European MSCA-PF call:

• You will become an official MSCA-PF evaluator and participate in the selection of the best projects recommended for funding.
• You will gain very valuable experience in evaluating international scientific projects.
• More information about this opportunity can be found HERE.

Internal training:

• MSCA-PF Seminar for Future Supervisors (February)
• MSCA-PF Training Day - 30 April, 2025 (online) 
• MSCA-PF Workshop - 29-30 May, 2025 (online)

Consultations and revisions of the proposal:

• Send us a draft of your proposal by 13 July 2025 at the latest. Writing as a team effort ensures higher quality and higher success rates.
• Book a meeting with us no later than 30 June 2025 to coordinate the preparation process as a team effort, and make a plan to divide tasks between postdoc, supervisor, and project support. For those scientists who already have a draft project and know MSCA-PF well, we will evaluate the different parts together and suggest a way to improve the proposal.

• Central support at the Grant Division of the Rectorate: Veronika Mikitová
• Faculty of Medicine: Dagmar Václavíková
• Faculty of Pharmacy: Richard Heger
• Faculty of Arts: Jakub Zeman, Denisa Főldešiová
• Faculty of Law: Stanislava Hřebíčková
• Faculty of Economics and Administration: Lucie Winklerová
• Faculty of Science: Kateřina Ježová, Tomáš Lády, Veronika Jálová
• Faculty of Informatics: Jana Halámková
• Faculty of Social Studies: Eva Šlesinger
• Faculty of Sports: Roman Drga
• Institute of Computer Science: Iva Krejčí
• CEITEC: Veronika Michlová Štěrbová