Horizon MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship: the EU mobility grant for researchers

Researchers with a PhD (or 4 years equivalent research experience) who have not lived in the host country more than 12 of the past 36 months (the 'mobility rule'). No nationality restriction. The fellow applies jointly with a supervisor at the host institution - you don't apply alone.

The host institution and supervisor are scored heavily. A strong host with a weak project narrative beats a weak host with a strong narrative. Pick the lab that publishes in the journals you cite, ideally with one prior MSCA fellow on the record - that's a signal the host knows the administrative side.

Part B1 (10 pages) is the scientific-technical core: excellence (your project + state of the art), impact (your career development + dissemination), implementation (work plan, risk, supervision). Part B2 (no page limit but be reasonable) covers the host environment, ethics, security. Reviewers do read both, and weak supervision sections kill otherwise strong proposals.

Call publication ~April. Deadline ~September. Results ~February. Funding start ~April-October the following year. So plan ~12 months from first contact with the supervisor to first paycheck. The European Commission evaluation involves ~3 reviewers per proposal; consensus is reached via panel.