HORIZON-MSCA-2027-DN-01-01

MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027

Status
forthcoming
Programme
Horizon Europe (HORIZON)
Action type
HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks
Opens
26 May 2027
Deadline
23 Nov 2027
Fetched
15 Jul 2026, 07:18 UTC
Plain-language summary

MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027 funds doctoral training partnerships across sectors and countries to boost research skills and innovation.

This call supports partnerships of universities, research institutions, businesses, and other actors to run doctoral training programs. It aims to train doctoral candidates with research and transferable skills for careers in academia and beyond. The program encourages international, inter-sectoral, and interdisciplinary collaboration, including industrial and joint doctorates.

Likely relevant for

  • Universities and research institutions
  • Doctoral candidates and supervisors
  • Research infrastructures
  • SMEs and industry partners
  • International research collaborations

Project signals

Doctoral training program designInter-sectoral secondmentsJoint or industrial doctoratesCareer development plans for researchers

What it funds

  • Doctoral training programs implemented by partnerships across academia, research infrastructures, businesses, and socio-economic actors
  • International, inter-sectoral, and interdisciplinary doctoral training
  • Industrial and joint doctorates with joint supervision
  • Training in research-related and transferable skills including entrepreneurship, innovation, and open science

Expected outcomes

  • Highly skilled doctoral candidates with improved employability and career prospects
  • Enhanced quality and sustainability of doctoral training programs
  • Increased cooperation and knowledge transfer between sectors and disciplines
  • Boosted research and innovation capacity and internationalization
  • Sustainable collaboration between academic and non-academic organizations

Who can apply / participate

  • Universities
  • Research institutions
  • Research infrastructures
  • Businesses including SMEs
  • Other socio-economic actors
  • Partnerships must include multiple organizations from different countries
  • Open to organizations from EU Member States, Horizon Europe Associated Countries, and third countries
  • Supervisory board must be established for network coordination
  • Participation from third countries encouraged to foster international partnerships
  • Doctoral candidates must be recruited through open, transparent, merit-based procedures
  • Joint supervision mandatory for industrial and joint doctorates
  • Exact consortium size and composition requirements
  • Specific eligibility of some third countries

Must check before shortlisting

  • Eligibility of participating countries and organizations
  • Specific consortium composition rules
  • Funding rates and budget limits

Money

The total indicative budget for 2027 is approximately EUR 574.6 million, covering standard, joint, and industrial doctoral networks.

  • Total budget for 2027 — 574616274EUR
    Covers all MSCA Doctoral Networks actions including Joint and Industrial Doctorates

Application notes

  • Single-stage submission procedure.
  • Proposal page limits and layout as per Annex A and E of Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Eligibility conditions as per Annex B and MSCA part of the Work Programme.
  • Financial and operational capacity requirements as per Annex C.
  • Evaluation criteria and procedures as per MSCA part and Annex F.
  • Prepare proposal following the HE MSCA DN Guide for Applicants.
  • Submit proposal via the Horizon Europe Submission System.
  • Ensure open, transparent, and merit-based recruitment of doctoral candidates.
  • Establish supervisory board and career development plans.
  • Check eligibility of all participating organizations and countries before applying.
  • Follow specific MSCA evaluation and award criteria.
  • Comply with legal and financial set-up conditions in Annex G and MSCA part of the Work Programme.

Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 22 Jun 2026, 16:54 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.

Related calls

These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.

Official source text

Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.

Topic description

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes: For supported doctoral candidates New research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects within and outside academia; New knowledge allowing the conversion of ideas into products and services, where relevant; Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact. For participating organisations Improved quality, relevance and sustainability of doctoral training programmes and supervision arrangements; Enhanced cooperation and transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines; Increased integration of training and research activities between participating organisations; Boosted R&I capacity; Increased internationalisation and attractiveness; Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations. Scope: MSCA Doctoral Networks will implement doctoral programmes, by partnerships of universities, research institutions and research infrastructures, businesses including SMEs, and other socio-economic actors from different countries across Europe and beyond. MSCA Doctoral Networks are indeed open to the participation of organisations from third countries, in view of fostering strategic international partnerships for the training and exchange of researchers. These doctoral programmes will respond to well-identified needs in various R&I areas, expose the researchers to the academic and non-academic sectors, and offer training in research-related, as well as transferable skills and competences relevant for innovation and long-term employability (e.g. entrepreneurship, commercialisation of results, Intellectual Property Rights, communication). Proposals for doctoral networks can reflect existing or planned research partnerships among the participating organisations. The selection procedure for doctoral candidates must be open, transparent and merit-based, in line with the European Charter for Researchers. The vacancy notice (to be widely advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS [1] website) must mention if the published rates include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. If possible, the gross salary (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions) should be published. MSCA Doctoral Networks are encouraged to lead to Industrial or Joint Doctorates. Industrial Doctorates Through Industrial Doctorates, doctoral candidates will step outside academia and develop skills in industry and business by being jointly supervised by academic and non-academic organisations, both of which can be established in the same EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Joint Doctorates Joint Doctorates represent a highly integrated type of international, inter-sectoral and multi/interdisciplinary collaboration in doctoral training. They lead to the delivery of joint, double or multiple doctoral degrees [2] recognised in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Supervisory Board Each MSCA Doctoral Network should have a clearly identified supervisory board co-ordinating network-wide training, research and in particular supervision activities in line with the Guidelines for MSCA supervision, while establishing continuous communication and exchange of best practice among the participating organisations to maximise the benefits of the partnership. Training activities MSCA Doctoral Networks should exploit complementarities between participating organisations and foster sharing of knowledge and networking activities for example through the organisation of workshops and conferences. Proposed training activities should respond to well identified needs in various R&I areas, with appropriate references to inter- and multidisciplinary fields and follow the EU Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training [3] . They should be primarily focused on developing new scientific knowledge through original research on personalised projects. Inter-sectoral secondments of researchers to other participating organisations, including in third countries, are encouraged when relevant, feasible and beneficial for the researchers and in line with the project objectives. This will increase the employability of the researchers outside academia. Doctoral Networks should develop substantial training modules, addressing key transferable skills and competences common to all fields, including digital ones (e.g. generative AI) and foster the culture of Open Science, knowledge valorisation [4] , and when applicable innovation and entrepreneurship as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, Doctoral Networks should adequately prepare doctoral candidates to pursue a career in research and for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.). Supervision Particular attention is paid to the quality of supervision and mentoring arrangements as well as career guidance. Joint supervision of the researchers is mandatory for Industrial and Joint Doctorates. Career Development Plan A Career Development Plan must be established jointly by the supervisor and each recruited doctoral candidate. In case of joint supervision, such a plan should be established involving all supervisors. In addition to research objectives, this plan comprises the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aiming at opening science and research to citizens. The plan, established at the beginning of the recruitment, should be revised (and updated where needed) within 18 months. [1] https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/ [2] Every time this Work Programme part refers to doctoral degrees, this means that the degrees have to be recognised as such by the relevant authorities of the country or countries concerned. [3] principles_for_innovative_doctoral_training.pdf [4] “Knowledge valorisation” is the process of creating social and economic value from knowledge by linking different areas and sectors and by transforming data, know-how and research results into sustainable products, services, solutions and knowledge-based policies that benefit society” ( EUR-Lex - 32022H2415 - EN - EUR-Lex ). For more guidance on specific areas of knowledge valorisation, see the European Commission’s Codes of Practice on intellectual assets management , on standardisation , on industry-academia co-creation and on citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation

Destination

The MSCA Doctoral Networks aim to train creative, entrepreneurial, innovative and resilient doctoral candidates, able to face current and future challenges and to convert knowledge and ideas into products and services for economic and social benefit. The MSCA Doctoral Networks will raise the attractiveness and excellence of doctoral training in Europe. They will equip researchers with the right combination of research-related and transferable competences and provide them with enhanced career perspectives in both the academic and non-academic sectors through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility combined with an innovation-oriented mind-set. Expected impact Proposals under this Action should contribute to the following expected impacts: Strengthen Europe's human capital base in R&I by training highly-skilled doctoral candidates; Improve the attractiveness of researchers’ careers notably through better working and employment conditions of doctoral candidates in Europe; Enhance talent and knowledge circulation across the R&I landscape, through international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility; Increase Europe's attractiveness as a leading research destination; Enhance the quality of R&I contributing to Europe's sustainable competitiveness; Establish sustainable collaboration between academic and non-academic organisations; Foster the culture of open science, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Conditions and documents

General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. Specific MSCA evaluation process is described on the MSCA section of the REA website.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. See exceptions and specific conditions in the MSCA part of the Work Programme.

Specific conditions

Support information

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

Raw budget overview
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