Horizon Europe Programme

Standard Application Form 
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Postdoctoral Fellowships (HE MSCA PF)

Instructions, please remove

Project proposal – Technical description (Part B) 

Version 5.0
27 March 2026

HISTORY OF CHANGES	
Version	Publication date	Changes	
1.0	18.06.2021	•	Initial version	
1.1	05.05.2022	•	Updated definitions: artificial intelligence, critical risks. Alignment of wording of title 1.2 with the wording of the work programme.	
2.0	11.07.2022	•	Addition of tags	
2.1	08.09.2022	•	Added instructions on Artificial intelligence	
3.0	20.03.2023	•	Letter of commitment for non-academic placement no longer required
•	Font size of text in tables - alignment with standard application form template
•	Criteria 1.2 open science practices: link to external video added 
•	Revision of criteria 2.1 explanation 
•	Partial alignment of text with standard application form template for criteria 2.3
•	Addition of Section 8 “Environmental considerations in light of the MSCA Green Charter”
•	Rephrasing of title of Section 9. 	
3.1	28.03.2024	•	Guidance on the use of AI for the preparation of the proposal
•	Added link on open science
•	Added “rationale and added-value of secondment (if applicable)” under sub-criterion 1.3
•	Added “provide credible quantified estimates” under sub-criterion 2.3
•	Included how to describe the MSCA green charter	
4.0	16.12.2024	•	Removed references to AI robustness and simplification of requirements of data management plan	
4.1	09.04.2025	•	Clarification regarding checks of compliance to formatting conditions during the evaluation
•	Corrected links in the Open Science section 1.2	
4.2	05.11.2025	•	Tags removed	
5.0	27.03.2026	•	Updated for call 2026	

Note
National Contact Points (NCPs) have been set up across Europe and beyond by the national governments to provide information and personalised support to Horizon Europe applicants in their native language. The mission of the NCPs is to raise awareness, inform and advise on Horizon Europe funding opportunities as well as to support potential applicants in the preparation, submission and follow-up of the grant applications. For details on the NCP in your country, please consult the MSCA National Contact Points page.

Instructions, please remove

Part B-2

5. 	Capacity of the Participating Organisation(s) 
 
Please provide an overview list of all participating organisations (the beneficiary and, where applicable, all associated partners) using template table 5.1 below, and more detailed information for each of the participating organisations (using a separate table for each organisation) using template table 5.2 below. 

Any inter-relationship between the participating organisation(s) or individuals and other entities/persons appearing (e.g. family ties, shared premises or facilities, joint ownership, financial interest, overlapping staff or directors, etc.) must be declared in the proposal.

Applicants should provide additional information regarding the administrative/legal relations between the department carrying out the work as described in the table below, and the entity/entities mentioned in Part A of the proposal (i.e. linked to the given Participant Identification Code – PIC). 

Should the proposal be shortlisted for funding, all participating organisations will have to be registered with the European Commission’s Participant Register Services. Therefore where this information is already known, please provide in Table 5.1 the (draft or validated) nine digit Participant Identification Code (PIC) for the beneficiary and, where applicable, each associated partner.

5.1 Template table: Overview of Participating Organisations 

Organisation role	PIC	Legal Entity Short Name	Academic organisation
(Y/N)	Country 	Name of Supervisor 	
Beneficiary	999874546	 UCM	Y	Spain	  	
Associated partner linked to a beneficiary (if applicable)		 		  	  	
Associated partner for outgoing phase (mandatory for GF) 		 		  	  	
Associated partner for secondment (if applicable )		 		  	  	
Associated partner for non-academic placement (if applicable) 		 		  	  	

5.2 Template table: Capacity of the Participating Organisations 

Please complete a separate table for each participating organisation. For the beneficiary, this table should be maximum 1 page in length; for each associated partner, the table should be maximum ½ page in length. 

Beneficiary	
Universidad Complutense de Madrid – UCM (Spain)	
General description 	
Role and profile of supervisor 		
Key research facilities, Infrastructure and Equipment 	The Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM, founded in 1499 and located in the city of Madrid, Spain, is a public institution of higher education focused on teaching and research. It is considered one of the most important and prestigious universities in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world. It is committed to excellence, quality and innovation. 
UCM is currently ranked as the best Spanish university according to the 2025 edition of the QS World University Rankings.
As a sign of its research excellence and as a guarantor of a stimulating and research-friendly working environment, UCM has been recognized with the HRS4R seal, a human resources strategy for research.
Research at UCM is carried out in its 26 faculties, 9 associated centers, 27 university institutes and research centers, 6 professional specialization schools, 15 university clinics and hospitals and 10 research assistance centers and Singular Scientific-Technological Facilities, ICTS, all of which have the ISO 9001:2015 quality certificate, which accredits the quality of their processes.

In 2024, UCM obtained through EU and international funded programmes a total income of 8,5 million euros for research activities. 
UCM has a prominent proven track record in research and training programmes. During FP7 (Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development), UCM participated in 94 FP7 projects, including 15 as coordinator, and hosted 25 MSCA/People awards, of which 13 were ITNs (1 as coordinator), 2 IRSES, 2 IEF (Intra-European Fellowships), 3 ERGs (European Reintegration Grants), 2 IOFs (International Outgoing Fellowships) and 3 CIGs.
HORIZON 2020 awarded 112 grants to UCM, among them, 9 ITNs, 12 RISE actions and 35 MSCA-IF actions.
To date in Horizon Europe, UCM researchers have been awarded 76 grants, including 2 Advanced Grants, 3 Starting Grants, 1 Consolidator Grant and 1 Synergy Grant from the European Research Council (ERC), 17 Postdoctoral Fellowships, 7 Staff Exchanges and 4 Doctoral Networks from the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA).
	
Previous and current involvement in EU-funded research and training programmes/actions/projects	Indicate up to 5 relevant EU, national or international research and training actions/projects in which the institution/department has previously participated and/or is currently participating.

Instructions, please remove

6. 	Additional ethics information 

Additional information that could not be included in Part A of the proposal (if needed).

7. 	Additional information on security screening

Additional information on security aspects that could not be included in Part A of the proposal (if needed).

8. 	Environmental considerations in light of the MSCA Green Charter	
Please explain how the proposed project would strive to adhere to the MSCA Green Charter during its implementation. Please indicate here - max 1/2 page - what actions you propose to take to ensure the sustainable implementation of project and to mitigate its environmental impact, in line with the principles set out in the MSCA Green Charter.

9.	Required for Global Fellowships only: Letter of commitment from the associated partner hosting the outgoing phase

Use this section to add scanned copies of the letter(s) of commitment, if applicable. 

Minimum requirements:  
•	With heading or stamp from the institution;
•	Up-to-date document, i.e. not dated prior to the call publication;
•	Demonstrating the will to actively participate in the (identified) proposal;
•	Explanation of the precise role.

Any additional information the organisation deems useful can be added in the letter.

In case the letter fails to provide enough information on the associated partner’s role and/or enough assurance of their commitment in the project (e.g. no signature, wrong proposal references, outdated letter…), the experts may penalise the proposal on these aspects under the implementation evaluation criterion. 

For GF proposals the absence of a letter of commitment will render the proposal inadmissible and the proposal will not be evaluated.
 
Instructions, please remove

Non-binding example of template letter of commitment for PF associated partners:

I undersigned [title, first name and surname], in my quality of [role in the organisation] in [name of the organisation] commit to set up all necessary provisions to participate as associated partner in the proposal [proposal number and/or acronym] submitted to the call HORIZON-MSCA-2026-PF-01, should the proposal be funded.
 
On behalf of [name of the organisation], I also confirm that we will participate and contribute to the research, innovation and training activities as planned in this project. In particular, [name of the organisation] will be involved in [free field for any additional information that the participating organisation wishes to indicate in order to describe its role and contribution to the project].
 
I hereby declare that I am entitled to commit into this process the entity I represent.
 
Name, Date, Signature