Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Individual Fellowships
At the beginning of the 20th century, Maria Salomea Skłodowska Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person in history to receive two of these prestigious awards. The polish born physicist and chemist relocated to Paris for her studies and research in her 20ies. Could she ever have imagined that one of the most renowned fellowships in Europe would be named after her? In 1996, roughly 60 years after her death, the European Union established the Marie Curie Actions in honour of this female pioneer in science and in 2014, they were renamed as Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) in recognition of the scientist’s full name.
Today, MSCA individual fellowships (IF) are among Europe’s most competitive awards, aimed to support training and career development of the best and most promising scientists. Over 100,000 fellowships have been awarded so far and at this very moment, 38 MSCA individual fellows are working on their projects and careers at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.
Like Lydia Hellrung portrayed in this issue, all those fellows had to go through the fierce competition for funding and wrote a proposal that stood out of the crowd. The success rate on average is around 16%, so it is important to understand how to play the game. Naturally, the quality of the proposed research project has to be outstanding. However, it is not enough to present good science! Other important issues include transferable skills, career planning, suitability of host and supervisor, dissemination, communication, management, risks and gender aspects.
The EU GrantsAccess team is happy to support MSCA IF applicants. We are available to discuss in-depth information on the programme during a personal meeting, help with administrative and ethical issues, organise tailor-made proposal writing trainings and pre-screening days. Interested in the MSCA Individual Fellowship? Check https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/actions/individual-fellowships_en or make an appointment with one of our specialists.
Your EU GrantsAccess Team
MSCA team at EU GrantsAccess
Frédérique Amor, Patrik Winiger, André Wunder, Alexandra Zingg and Annika Glauner
Next MSCA IF deadline:
9 September 2020
Who can apply?
Applicants need a doctoral degree or at least four years research experience (call deadline)
Types
European Fellowships: for researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming into Europe from other parts of the world
Global Fellowships: for researchers moving outside Europe for their fellowship, with a mandatory return phase in Europe.