Managing a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) are the European Union’s reference programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training.

There are four main MSCA actions under Horizon Europe:

  • Doctoral Networks (DN)
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF)
  • Staff Exchanges (SE)
  • MSCA COFUND

Recruitment and employment requirements (DN, PF, COFUND)

Researchers must be directly recruited by the beneficiary (or implementing partner in COFUND).

The contract must be an employment contract or equivalent direct contract offering similar social security coverage (sickness, pension rights, benefits for accidents etc).

For DN and COFUND, vacancies must be advertised internationally, at a minimum on the EURAXESS Jobs Portal. Recruitment must be open, transparent, impartial and merit based.

Mobility rule compliance

Recruited researchers (DN, PF, COFUND) must comply with the mobility rule. They must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the country of the recruiting organisation for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date (for DN) or call deadline (for PF and COFUND).

Researcher and mobility declarations

A ‘Researcher Declaration’ needs to be completed for every researcher employed on an MSCA Doctoral Networks or Staff Exchanges project.

A ‘Mobility Declaration’ needs to be submitted for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships projects within 20 days of the researcher’s recruitment or the start of the secondment, and updated if there are any changes (for example, family status, part-time work or suspension). These declarations form the basis of the financial reporting.

To submit the declarations, log in to the EU Portal and:

  • go to ‘Manage projects’
  • select ‘Continuous reporting’
  • select the ‘Mobility’ tab
  • select ‘Add recruitment’ to fill in the recruitment information for PF
  • select ‘Add researcher’ then ‘Add mobility declaration’ for DN or COFUND
  • save and submit when you’re done

Find out more about completing the Mobility tab.

Secondments

Secondments enable the exchange of knowledge between different academic disciplines, different sectors (such as academia and industry), and between beneficiaries and associated partners in EU Member States, Associated Countries or Third Countries. MSCA schemes encourage secondments, but the specific rules of each grant must be followed.

The Research Operations Office has produced guidance on secondments for MSCA schemes (PDF, 170 KB).

MSCA Doctoral Networks

Each researcher can be seconded for up to one-third of their recruitment period.

Secondments can be from one beneficiary to another beneficiary or associated partner.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

  • European Postdoctoral Fellowships: secondments can last up to one-third of the standard project duration.
  • Global Postdoctoral Fellowships: secondments are permitted for up to one-third of the outgoing phase.

The outgoing phase (not considered a secondment) lasts a minimum of 12 months and a maximum 24 months.

Secondments can be from the beneficiary to the associated partner hosting the researcher.

MSCA Staff Exchanges

Staff members must be seconded on a full-time basis for a minimum of one month and up to 12 months.

Secondments can be from one beneficiary to another beneficiary or associated partner, or from an associated partner to a beneficiary.

MSCA COFUND

Secondments are limited to a maximum of one-third of the actual months spent implementing research training activities under the action or, if applicable, the duration of the outgoing phase (the person-months for the researcher).

Secondments can be from a beneficiary to an associated or implementing partner.

Working time and leave

Researchers in DN, PF and COFUND must work exclusively and full-time on the grant unless the funder agrees otherwise.

Part-time employment means the researcher must work at least 50% of their time on the action.

Part-time for personal reasons

Part-time employment for personal or family reasons is permitted in DN, PF and COFUND, with prior agreement or notification to the granting authority.

Part-time for professional reasons

PF and COFUND postdoctoral researchers may request part-time work for professional reasons (such as creating a company, pursuing another research project or engaging in advanced studies not related to the MSCA grant), provided it does not jeopardise the action. 

Part-time employment for professional reasons is not permitted in DN grants.

If part-time employment is approved for professional reasons, the beneficiary must keep reliable time records, such as timesheets.

Leave

For Horizon Europe MSCA grants, the long-term leave allowance is available to cover the beneficiary’s payment obligations related to researchers’ long-term leave (for example, maternity or sick leave) lasting more than 30 consecutive days. Horizon 2020 MSCA grants do not include a leave allowance, and the project must be suspended in such cases. Please contact the EU Team for support with this process.

Financial Management of MSCA Grants

MSCA grants use unit-cost contributions, determined by multiplying the unit cost by the number of person-months implemented. During audits, the focus is on proving the eligibility and implementation of person-months.

Eligibility of costs

In MSCA grants (PF, DN, COFUND), the researcher and institutional contributions are both linked to the same trigger: the number of person-months the recruited researcher has spent on the implementation of the action.

These contributions are eligible if they meet the general eligibility conditions and the specific requirements in the Grant Agreement for each cost category. Ensuring the researcher’s eligibility according to the call conditions and the Grant Agreement provisions is essential for all MSCA grants.

Recruited researchers must not be required to cover any costs for the implementation of the action, including visa fees, residence permit fees, or tuition fees for research training or PhD programs.

Unit contributions for recruited researchers

Living Allowance (DN, PF)

Covers the researcher’s gross salary costs, subject to compulsory statutory deductions (taxes, employer and employee social security deductions).

Mobility Allowance (DN, PF)

Used to cover personal costs related to mobility, such as travel and accommodation. Travel costs related to the project should be covered by the research, training and networking budget.

Family Allowance (DN, PF)

This allowance compensates for additional costs due to family obligations. It is available to researchers who:

  • already have a family (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe grants)
  • acquire a family during the action (Horizon Europe only)

A family means the researcher has:

  • a spouse
  • a relationship equivalent to marriage recognised by the law of the country or region where the relationship was formalised
  • dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher

Special Needs Allowance (DN, PF, COFUND, SE)

Contributes to additional costs for special needs items and services for eligible recruited researchers or seconded staff members with disabilities, provided these are not funded from another source.

Long Term Leave Allowance (DN, PF, COFUND)

Covers costs incurred by beneficiaries when researchers take long-term leave (including maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave) lasting longer than 30 consecutive days. In these cases, no living, mobility or family or COFUND allowance can be claimed for the researcher concerned.

Top-up Allowance (SE only)

Covers travel, accommodation and subsistence costs during secondments. It must be fully used for the benefit of the seconded staff member it is claimed for.

COFUND Allowance (COFUND only)

Contributes to gross salary costs of researchers, including social security coverage. It also covers costs related to training, research expenses, knowledge transfer and networking activities. In addition, it includes costs for managing the action and indirect costs.

Institutional Unit Contributions (DN, PF, SE)

Institutional contributions are directly linked to the researcher unit costs and cannot be claimed separately.

Research, training and networking

Covers costs related to training and research expenses for researchers or staff members, as well as costs for knowledge transfer and networking activities. This might include:

  • participation in conferences
  • trips related to work on the action
  • training or language courses
  • seminars
  • lab material
  • books
  • library records
  • publication costs
  • tuition fees
  • visa-related fees, including Immigration Health Surcharges (even if incurred before the recruitment date)

Management and indirect costs

Covers additional costs incurred by the beneficiary in connection with the action, such as personnel costs for project management and coordination, and indirect costs.

Understanding your obligations

It’s important that you understand your obligations to the scheme so that you follow the terms and conditions of your grant.

Check the guidance and information for your scheme.

Horizon Europe

Please refer to the Horizon Europe Unit Model Grant Agreement.

EC Information Package for MSCA fellows and staff members

Other resources

Horizon 2020

Audits

MSCA grants can be audited during the project or up to 2 years after the final payment.

Audits cover 2 areas:

  • financial – checking declared researcher months and eligibility of the recruited researcher or seconded staff member
  • researcher-related – checking that obligations relating to the researchers or seconded staff have been met

Unit contributions that are not supported by appropriate and sufficient evidence may be rejected and other measures described in Chapter 5 of the Horizon Europe Unit Model Grant Agreement may be applied.

More about audits

Record keeping

Beneficiaries must keep sufficient evidence to prove the proper implementation of the action and confirm that the number of units declared is correct. This evidence must be verifiable, auditable and available for at least 5 years after the balance is paid, or longer if there are ongoing audits, investigations or litigation. In these cases, records must be kept until the end of the procedure.

Beneficiaries of MSCA grants should keep employment contracts, equivalent direct contracts, or fixed-fellowship agreements, as well as proof that:

  • eligibility conditions for researchers were met (for example, CVs showing seniority, copies of diplomas, recruitment documents)
  • researchers actually worked on the action (for example, lab books, scientific articles, library records)
  • obligations in Annex 5 of the Horizon Europe Unit Model Grant Agreement were complied with
  • living, mobility and family allowances (including employer social security payments) were fully paid
  • special needs were certified by a competent national authority
  • costs for long-term leave were required by national legislation and for the benefit of the researcher
  • time records (for example, timesheets, logbooks, counters) were kept for part-time work

Staff Exchanges

For Staff Exchanges, there also needs to be proof that the secondment was eligible. This might include:

  • an agreement for the secondment
  • travel documents
  • access rights for the host organisation’s premises showing the duration of the secondment
  • lab books
  • registration documents
  • scientific articles
  • library records to demonstrate engagement in research and innovation activities

COFUND

For COFUND, there also needs to be proof that all recruited researchers were selected through a process that was:

  • open
  • transparent
  • merit based
  • impartial
  • equitable

For postdoctoral programmes, there should also be proof of regular selection rounds and international peer review.

Different retention periods

Departments should also follow the University’s Retention Schedule (PDF, 480 KB) which says that different retention periods might be allowed in certain situations, such as:

  • audit investigations
  • court cases
  • ongoing institutional requirements

Departments are responsible for deciding if a longer retention period should be applied and making sure they comply with the University’s data protection policy (PDF, 110 KB).

If you have questions or need help, contact mscagrants@admin.cam.ac.uk.