MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR MSCA-PF

Who? Postdoctoral Researcher

How?  Briefly, to be eligible, you must:

1. Be a Postdoctoral Researcher (PR) by the date of the deadline (meaning, having defended your doctoral thesis)
2. Have a maximum of 8 years of postdoctoral experience by the date of the deadline (career breaks or years spent outside R&D do not count, and for nationals/residents of MS or AC reintegrating into a MS or AC, neither do years spent in third countries)
3. Comply with the appropriate rules of mobility;

There are 2 types of MSCA-PF, with different eligibility conditions: European Fellowships and Global Fellowships (GF). Select the type of action you will apply to in the MSCA-PF program and make sure you comply with the specific set of eligibility conditions. You can check the eligibility conditions for this call using this Excel. 

NOTIFY YOUR INTENTION TO APPLY FOR A MSCA-PF

 Who? Postdoctoral Researcher

How? Write an email to promocion.oeid@ucm.es informing us which type of grant you want to apply for (European Fellowships or Global Fellowships) and the research group within UCM you want to apply with.

CREATE AN ACCOUNT IN EU LOGIN

Who? Postdoctoral Researcher

How? In order to be able to access the application for the preparation and submission of the project proposal you must create an account in the EU login service. For this purpose follow the directions in this link.

Who? Postdoctoral Researcher / Scientific Supervisor / OEID

How? A proposal is composed, at a minimum, of the administrative forms (part A) and the scientific/technical proposal (part B). The administrative forms must be completed online in the Portal Submission Service. Check the configuration of your internet browser (indications are provided in the application). Please note that some data fields in the administrative forms are pre-filled based on the previous steps in the submission wizard (like the abstract). However, you should check that all of them are up to date before the proposal submission. Should you have any question or need guidance about the “Declarations” section send an e-mail to OEID.

1. WRITE THE TECHNICAL PART OF THE PROPOSAL

Who? Postdoctoral Researcher / Scientific Supervisor

How? The technical part of the proposal, the description of your project, is called Part B, and must be completed offline, using the templates that you downloaded in the Submission Service Portal in Step 3. 

Read the templates carefully and try to understand what is expected in each section. Also, keep in mind that evaluators, although they are experts in your field, may not be experts in the research objectives of your project. Therefore, write your proposal from a technical point of view, but one that can be understood by any colleague in your field.

There are numerous materials to support Postdoctoral Researchers in drafting the templates of the MSCA proposal. We have curated and ordered the available documents according to their usefulness to help you in this fundamental step. Likewise, you will find that part of the information you are requested to provide in the proposal has to do with the Universidad Complutense as the institution hosting your project. There are parts of the proposal that are in this sense host-institution-dependent. We have created a   Guide to UCM specific issues – MSCA-PF to help you draft these parts.

You should initially focus your efforts on the design of the research project of the excellence section. The 40% chance of getting the funding depends on it. The project must be original and innovative (not incremental), the objectives ought to have at least a European scope (e.g., strategic EC policies, significant advancement of the state of the art of your discipline, roadmaps, current social challenges, white papers, etc.) and, it should spring from the union of your backgrounds (supervisor & fellow) in research (double transfer of knowledge). 

The Guide for Applicants (link) and the MSCA Work Programme (link) by the European Commission contain the key information about the objectives of the programme, modalities of participation, eligibility criteria, evaluation criteria and a blueprint of the technical proposal templates to be submitted. The Guide complements and explains the Work programme, but does not replace it; therefore, both documents should be read side by side. If you have any administrative or formal questions about the MSCA-PF call, consult these documents.

2. OTHER GUIDES

• MSCA Individual Fellowships Handbook 2023: This unofficial document has been prepared by MSCA’s network of NCPs (MSCA-NET). This handbook consists of the official 2024 annotated templates. Inside there are explanations, examples, and tips on how to write the different sections easily. This guide can be considered as a reference book in the proposal drafting phase.

• Guide to UCM Specific Issues: As part of your proposal, you are required to provide information regarding the Universidad Complutense as the hosting institution for your project. Certain sections of the proposal (1.3, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, and 5.2) depend on details specific to the host institution. To assist you in drafting these sections, please download and refer to the following document: Guide to UCM specific issues – MSCA-PF . Please do not use it as a copy-paste turnkey solution. The actions (e.g. training, dissemination, exploitation, and communication plans) included in your proposal must be tailor-made for your project idea.

• The role of the supervisor in a MSCA-PF project comprises several tasks. You can find a comprehensive description in the MSCA Guidelines for Supervision document, created by the European Commission.

• All proposals under Horizon Europe must keep in mind the European Green Deal, including trying to uphold the “Do no significant harm” principle (this will appear in section A of your proposal) and describing how your technical proposal impacts the Green Deal principles (this will have to be written in part B, i.e. the technical proposal). The EC has prepared MSCA-specific materials related to the Green Deal, comprising a brief code of good practices (MSCA Green Charter) and a supplementary document listing additional resources.

• The European Commission has created a HE Social Media Guide: Using social media in EU funded R&I projects . This guide will help you to properly design dissemination and communicate plan of sections 2.2 and 2.3 of your proposal.

• The European IPR Helpdesk has prepared the brochure ‘ Successful valorisation of knowledge and research results in Horizon Europe: Boosting the impact of your project through effective communication, dissemination and exploitation ‘. It will help researchers boost the impact of their project through effective communication, dissemination and exploitation, and consider how they all relate to Intellectual Property issues.

• When writing your proposal, it might be useful for you to understand the Spanish Science & Technology System, and the possible career paths available to researchers. We recommend you to visit the Euraxess Spain section, where many resources are available. Their Researcher Career path in Spain at a glance! (7th edition) provides a bird’s eye view about different fellowships and contracts that will be available to you.

3. EXTRA BONUS!

If you’ve already started drafting your proposal, we encourage you to request the document ‘Good Examples of MSCA-PF‘ from us. This document contains excerpts from successfully funded projects that we consider exemplary.

It’s important to clarify that these examples are intended to inspire rather than dictate how your proposal should be structured. Our goal is to provide inspiration for refining sections where you may have uncertainties.

Once you have completed Step 3 (Registration), please reach out to us at promocion.oeid@ucm.es to request access to this document. We will verify your completion of this step before providing it to you.

ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW

Who? Postdoctoral Researcher, Scientific Supervisor & OEID

How? When you have a definitive version of your proposal, we suggest that you review your work. After that, let others evaluate your proposal, specially your scientific supervisor. It is also a good idea to ask for the opinion of colleagues, especially for the review of the scientific part. 

In the last step of the evaluation, the experts will use a grid to rate your proposal. This evaluation template can be used to guide self-evaluation. Draft the proposal thinking about who will evaluate it. 

• Manual for evaluators – MSCA-IF – Assessment Grid (Last available version: 2018)

The OEID can review your proposal as many times as posible. Experience shows that proposals reviewed achieve better results. We do not undertake to review all proposals received. We will review as many proposals as possible on a first-come, first-served basis. Don`t be late. Use the email address promocion.oeid@ucm.es.