The core objective of this grant is to provide support in the form of fellowships to displaced Ukrainian doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. This enables them to continue or resume their research activities at host organizations established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
- Target recipient type and size: Academic or non-academic organizations that can host and support researchers.
- SECTOR-AGNOSTIC
- Geographic scope: Host organizations must be established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
- Key filtering criteria: Applicant must be an organization (not an individual researcher) with the capacity to recruit and support displaced researchers from Ukraine.
- Grant frequency: This is a specific call for 2025 under the broader Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program, implying recurring opportunities within the MSCA framework.
Financial Structure
Total budget for this specific topic: The estimated contribution for the action is between EUR 9,500,000 and EUR 10,000,000.
Funding type: This is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA).
Funding mechanism: The beneficiary organization will provide financial support to third parties (displaced researchers) in the form of grants based on unit contributions.
Maximum amount per third party (researcher or group of researchers recruited by the beneficiary): EUR 2,000,000. This amount is intended to cover the recruitment of several researchers by the beneficiary.
Eligible costs: Fellowships for doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers, using the same unit contributions and eligibility conditions as standard MSCA Doctoral Networks and MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships.
Indirect costs: Typically covered as part of the Horizon Europe unit contribution system for researchers and a flat rate for the host institution's indirect costs related to the CSA.
Financial reporting: Subject to the requirements outlined in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Eligibility Requirements
Organization Type & Status
Eligible organizations: Any academic or non-academic organization.
Location: Must be established in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.
Consortium: Applications from eligible organizations or consortia are accepted, but a consortium is not mandatory.
Individual researchers: Applications from individual researchers are ineligible.
Capacity & Role
The applicant organization must be looking to provide financial support to third parties (i.e., displaced researchers) and recruit them.
Compliance
Admissibility Conditions: Proposals must adhere to page limits and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form.
Eligible Countries: Organizations must be from countries listed as eligible in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Financial & Operational Capacity: Applicants must meet financial and operational capacity requirements as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Platform: Applications must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Required documentation: Part B of the Application Form, which is specific to this call and available within the Submission System.
Supporting materials: Applicants should consult the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), and other referenced guidance documents for detailed instructions and templates.
Grant Duration & Fellowships
Overall action duration: The expected duration of the awarded action (grant) is 36 months.
Individual fellowship duration: Each individual fellowship provided by the beneficiary can have a maximum duration of 2 years.
Secondments: Short-term secondments for researchers to other organizations are eligible for up to one-third of the fellowship duration.
Post-Award & Reporting
Legal and financial setup: The legal and financial arrangements for the grants are detailed in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Monitoring & Evaluation: Progress tracking and evaluation are expected as per standard Horizon Europe practices for Coordination and Support Actions.
Evaluation Criteria
General Criteria
Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds for evaluation are detailed in Annex D of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
Key Considerations (Derived from Scope and Impact)
Quality of Proposed Fellowships: Assessment of how the host organization will protect and enable displaced researchers to continue their work effectively.
Reintegration Strategy: Plans to facilitate the reintegration of researchers to Ukraine once safe conditions for return are met.
Skills and Career Development: Quality of training activities, focusing on developing new scientific knowledge, transferable skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Supervision and Mentoring: Quality of arrangements for supervision, mentoring, and career guidance provided to the researchers.
Secondment Opportunities: Encouragement and planning for short-term secondments (especially to Ukraine if conditions allow, or inter-sectoral secondments).
Alignment: Alignment with the general objectives and principles of the MSCA, including scientific excellence, skills and career development, inter-sectoral mobility, equal opportunities and inclusiveness, attractive working conditions, work/life balance, open science, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Impact: Expected contribution to sustaining Ukrainian research and innovation capacities, strengthening EU-Ukraine research and innovation cooperation, and improving researchers' employability and career prospects.
Compliance & Special Requirements
Regulatory & Ethical Compliance
General Conditions: Applicants must adhere to the general conditions described in Annex A, B, C, D, F, and G of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Financial Regulations: Compliance with EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 is required.
Legal Framework: Adherence to the rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative) Appointment, and Financial Capacity Assessment is mandatory.
Ethical Standards: Ethical considerations inherent in research involving displaced persons and academic freedom are paramount.
Research & Project Specifics
Research Domains: The grant is open to projects in all domains of research and innovation.
Displaced Researchers Definition: Supported researchers must be Ukrainian nationals, stateless persons, or nationals from third countries other than Ukraine, who were residing in Ukraine and were displaced on or after February 24, 2022.
Secondments: Short-term secondments of researchers to other organizations are encouraged, particularly to Ukraine if conditions allow, and inter-sectoral secondments are especially promoted to enhance employability outside academia.
Open Science: Fostering Open Science practices is a key objective of the program.
Inclusivity: The grant emphasizes equal opportunities and inclusiveness for researchers.
Unique Context
Crisis Response: This grant specifically aims to allow the EU to respond to the crisis faced by displaced researchers from Ukraine, sustaining their research and innovation capacities.
Single Project Award: The granting authority can fund a maximum of one project under this specific topic, indicating a highly competitive selection process.
Grant Details
fellowships
research
ukraine
displaced researchers
doctoral candidates
postdoctoral researchers
msca
horizon europe
academic
non-academic
eu funding
research and innovation
capacity building
european commission
science
mobility
career development
education
international cooperation
open science
humanitarian aid
ukrainian crisis
MSCA4Ukraine Fellowships 2025
HORIZON-MSCA-2025-MSCA4UA-01-01
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