Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

MSCA runs several parallel actions. Doctoral Networks fund PhD positions within joint training partnerships between universities, research centres, and industry across at least three EU or Horizon Europe-associated countries, giving doctoral researchers international mobility, structured supervision, and industry exposure built into the programme. Postdoctoral Fellowships fund individual researchers who already hold a PhD (or are within a defined number of years of full-time research experience) to spend one to two years at a host institution in Europe, with a Global Fellowship variant that includes an outgoing phase at an institution outside Europe followed by a mandatory return phase in Europe.

Financially, MSCA is exceptionally generous by academic standards. Researchers receive a living allowance corrected for the cost of living in the host country, a mobility allowance, and, where applicable, a family allowance for those with dependents; salaries are paid as an employment contract, not a stipend, which means MSCA researchers are treated as EU staff with full social security and pension contributions. Doctoral Network positions typically pay a gross salary in the range of €3,400-€5,000 per month depending on country correction coefficients, while institutional research, training, and networking costs are covered separately by the host.

Because MSCA money flows through host institutions rather than a central scholarship office, applicants do not submit one universal MSCA application. Instead, they search the MSCA-funded project database and EURAXESS jobs portal for open doctoral or postdoctoral positions advertised by specific consortia or supervisors, then apply directly to that vacancy following its own deadline and process, which typically includes a research proposal or motivation letter, CV, and academic references.

For Pakistani and other international STEM, social science, and humanities graduates aiming for a fully funded European PhD or postdoc with genuine mobility and no nationality bar, MSCA is one of the most reliable and reputationally strong routes available, and thousands of positions open across all fields every year.