MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS

Individual Fellowships 2020

Berit Sundby Avset and Per Magnus Kommandantvold, National Contact Points for MSCA

Lysaker April 2020

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Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions:

National Contacts Points for Norway:

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Berit Sundby Avset bsa@rcn.no, ph. 93059324

Per Magnus Kommandantvold pmk@rcn.no, ph. 92247635

@MarieCurie_NCP

Newsletter on MSCA/ERC (in Norwegian):https://www.forskningsradet.no/sok-om-finansiering/internasjonale-midler/sok-horisont-2020/

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What are the Marie

Sklodowska-Curie Actions? Horizon 2020

MSCA

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• All career stages and nationalities

• All domains of research and innovation

• Bottom-up approach

• Attractive career and knowledge-exchange opportunities through mobility

• International, intersectoral and interdisciplinary (the three I´s)

• Skills development

• Promotion of attractive working and employmentconditions

ITN

IF

RISE

COFUND

Night

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MSCA: the different actions

2014 – 20206 162 million €

• Innovative Training Networks• Host driven, early-stage researchers• (network recruiting ~PhD students)

• Individual Fellowships• Individual, experienced researchers• Incoming & outgoing ~post-docs’

• Research and Innovation Staff Exchange

• Exchange of all types of research staff with ‘Third Countries’ and/or private sector

• COFUND• Cofunding e.g. national schemes

• European Researchers’ Night• Outreach & communication

Funding

schemeCall opens

Call closes

(deadline!)Budget

IF 08/04/2020 09/09/2020 324 mEUR

COFUND 08/04/2020 29/09/2020 100 mEUR

Call deadlines & budget

Budget for 2020 call, all panels: 328 m EUR: • European Fellowships (ST/CAR/RI): 263 m EUR • European Fellowships (SE): 10 m EUR• Global Fellowships (GF): 55 m EUR

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What is IF?

Individual Fellowships (IF) 9

Policy perspectives behind IF and what´s in them:

✓Realise the potential of experienced researchersGive more researchers at postdoctoral level training opportunities, and as such improve the scientific competitiveness of Europe.

✓Catalyse significant development in their careers in both sectorsThe training should be tailored so that the researcher will get an added value through the fellowship, and improved career opportunities afterwards, in the academic and the non-academic sectors.

✓Provide opportunities to acquire new knowledge, work on research projects in a European context or outside EuropeNot just more of the same, but real transfer of knowledge within Europe and beyond, through mobility. And acquisition of skills in areas which are not research, but related.

Individual Fellowships (IF) 21.04.2020 10

Global fellowships• 12 -24 months in 3rd country, plus 12

months return phase in Europe• For European researchers or long-term

residents in Europe

European fellowships• 12 -24 months• CAR panel 12-36 months• From all countries to Europe (MS/AC)

• Non-academic host

• Any nationality

• Max 36 months in host country in previous 5 years

• Move directly to host country fromThird country

• EU/AC nationality or long term resident

• Max 36 months in host country in previous 5 years

• Min 12 months outside research

• Any nationality

• Max 36 months in host country in previous 5 years

• Any nationality

• Max 12 months in host country in the previous 3 years

Standard

(EF-ST)

Career restart

(EF-CAR)

Society & Enterprise

(EF-SE)

Reinte-gration(EF-RI)

Options for European

fellowships

Overview, see Annex 1, pg. 52 in GfA

Eligibility

Definition of experienced researcher

By 9. September you must have a doctoraldegree,

OR

have at least four years of full-time equivalentresearch experience*

*from the date when you obtained a degree which wouldformally entitled you to start on a doctorate

Five years

Four years

Three years

Twoyears

One year

9. September 2020 (deadline)

IF ST and GF: max 12 months in last 3 years

Mobility rule: years in host country

IF CAR, RI and SE: max 36 months in the last 5 years

GF: Mobility rule applies to outgoing host country

RI: Must move directly to country of host, not via another countryCAR: >12 months career break within 18 months prior to deadline

You find the wording in the Guide for Applicants, under «Definitions» and point 3.1 respectively.

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Typical activities of an Individual Fellowship

• Mobility

• Research and training activities– Training-through-research

– Hands-on activities: techniques and instruments

– Transferrable skills: entrepreneurship, IPR, projectmanagement …

• Financial and organisational management of theproject

• Communication and public engagement

• Dissemination and exploitation

• Training dedicated to gender issues

• Secondments are encouraged, but optional. – Inter-sectoral or interdisciplinary knowledge transfer

– Max. 3 or 6 months (</> 18 months)

– Secondment in MS/AC, even same country, single stay or divided

Secondments (optional)15

• A planned stay outside of your host organisation. Must add value to the impact ofproject.

• Must be relevant, feasible and beneficial for the researcher. Other sector? Yes, please!

• Distinguish from «short visit»:

– Supervision, duration, location

• Must be included in the proposal

• Secondment in organization in Member State or Associated Country (MS/AC), even same country, single stay or divided

• Maximum duration

– 3 months (fellowship ≤ 18 months)

– 6 months (fellowship > 18 months)

For Global Fellowship:

– May spend up to 3 months at European host organisationbefore moving to Third Country

– Deducted of outgoing period

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How to apply

«The proposal should be preparedby the researcher in liaison with

the applicants organisation(beneficiary), which is represented

by the main supervisor»

All information on the Funding and Tenders Portal19

The Funding and Tenders Portal:https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home

In the call page you find the following essential documents:• Guide for applicants 2020• MSCA work programme 2018-2020• Online guide for proposal submission• Information on the evaluation process• Proposal template• Evaluation form• Grant agreement template and annexes

Electronic proposal submission

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In addition, we recommendyou to use the

«Net4Mobility+» IF handbook!

https://www.net4mobilityplus.eu/scientific-

community/

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The proposal

The proposal - electronic forms at the Funding Portal23

Part A: administrative information

• Section 1: General information and declarations (includingabstract);

• Section 2: Data on participants and contacts;

• Section 3: Budget;

• Section 4: Ethics issues table;

• Section 5: Call specific questions

Part B: project description

– Two pdf-documents with page restrictions

◦ Document 1: Project description 10 pages

◦ Document 2: Section 4-7 (See slide 34)

Are you resubmitting a proposal?

Part A: Tick the resubmission box.

BUT:Part B: No reference to the outcome of previous evaluations of this or any similar proposal should be included in the text (or of Seal of Excellence). Experts will be strictly instructed to disregard any such references.

Resubmission:If supervisor, researcher, host organization (and partner organization for GF) are the same as in previous proposals.

Your proposal is matched to evaluators based on the descriptors you choose in Part A

• Minimum 3 descriptors, in order of importance• Optional: 2 additional descriptors• See Annex 4, Guide for Applicants pg. 60-66

8 Scientific areas• Chemistry• Social Sciences and Humanities• Economic Sciences• Information Science and Engineering• Environment and Geosciences• Life Sciences• Mathematics• Physics

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Proposal structure: Part B-1

No start page!!!

• 1. EXCELLENCE

• 2. IMPACT

• 3. IMPLEMENTATION

Max 10 pages

Proposal structure: Part B-1 with weighting of criteria

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• 1. EXCELLENCE

• 2. IMPACT

• 3. IMPLEMENTATIONNow, 90% of you will focus 80% of your initial energy on this part that counts for 50% of the total proposal.

Is that a smart strategy?

50%

20%

30%

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Quality and credibility of the research/innovation project; level of novelty, appropriate consideration of inter/multidisciplinary and gender aspects

Quality and appropriateness of the training and of the two way transfer of knowledge between the researcher and the host

Quality of the supervision and of the integration in the team/institution

Potential of the researcher to reach or re-enforce professional maturity/independence during the fellowship

Enhancing the future career prospects of the researcher after the fellowship

Quality of the proposed measures to exploit and disseminate the project results

Quality of the proposed measures to communicate the project activities to different target audiences

Coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, including the appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources

Appropriateness of the management structure and procedures, including risk management

Appropriateness of the institutional environment (infrastructure)

Excellence Quality and efficiency of the implementation

Impact

50% 30% 20%

Structure of Part B-1, section 1-3

Example:

1 Excellence (criterion)

1.1 Quality and credibility of the research/innovation … (sub-criterion)

- Divide the text with suitable sub-headlines reflecting the instructions in the Guide for Applicants

-

1.2 Quality and the appropriateness of the training and … (sub-criterion)

- Sub-headlines as appropriate

-

1. Excellence

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– Introduction and objective(s) – very important,

◦ clearly described, focussed, WOW-factor

◦ Understandable for the “Can evaluate if necessary”-expert

◦ Use illustrations, tables, charts, diagrams

◦ Why is it an important problem?

◦ Why should this project be financed?

Research project

Fellow Host group

Is the researcher and thehost a good match?

A Personal Career Development Plan is foreseen!

• A Career Development Plan should be established jointly by the supervisor(s) and the researcher at the beginning of the project

• Must be mentioned in the proposal

• Is a deliverable early in the project

• If the host organisation have a career development strategy for its employees, make sure to describe it

2. Impact

Impact on three levels (MSCA work programme):

➢ Impact at researcher level

➢ Impact at organization level

➢ Impact at system level

Why should the EU spend money on you and your project?

Why will EU funding, as compared to other funding, make sense in your project?

Explain the European added value!

Dissemination and communication

Understand the difference, and don’t confuse them:

• Dissemination and exploitation is about the results of theaction (project), and is targeted at peers.https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-funding-guide/grants/grant-management/dissemination-of-results_en.htm

• Communication is to show how the research, training and mobility contribute to «Innovation Union» goals, and accountfor public spending. Public outreach is key. http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/gm/h2020-guide-comm_en.pdfhttps://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-funding-guide/grants/grant-management/communication_en.htm

Prepare to develop concrete strategies/plans

3. Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation33

– A clear work plan – when, what, who, how etc.

◦ For the research

◦ For the project management

◦ Include a Gannt chart

– Provide description of work packages: Research, Management, Dissemination, Outreach/Communication, Training, etc.

– Description of major deliverables, milestones and secondments ifrelevant

– Risk management, describe what you will do if you cannot follow theplan

– Describe infrastructure at the host organisation, but also how it is involved in the execution of a successful project

Dette bildet av Ukjent forfatter er lisensiert under CC BY-SA-NC

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Proposal structure: Part B-2

Section 4. CV of the Experienced Researcher

- 5 pages max

Section 5. Capacity of the Participating Organisations

- List of participating organisations (one page, table)

- One page for each organisation, table)

Section 6. Ethical issues

- If you flagged any ethical issues in Part A, See GfA for guidance

- No ethical issues: Provide headline and state that there are no issues.

Section 7. Letter of Commitment (only Global Fellowships)

- See requirements in Guide for applicants, no template

- If missing, the application will be inadmissable

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The money

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Very simple budget!

Two types of unit costs:- Researcher unit costs- Institutional unit costs

Researcher unit cost (person/month)Institutional unit cost

(person/month)

Living allowance*Mobility

allowanceFamily

allowance

Research, training and networking

costs

Management and indirect

costs

4880 euro 600 500 800 650

Subject to taxes and social security deductions!!

*Living allowance is adjusted by Country Correction Coefficients found in WP

What is in my paycheck?37

• Living allowance = gross amount

– Deduct social security costs

– Income tax

• Mobility and Familiy allowance maybe included in your annual salaryand you may have to pay tax on it

Your net paycheckIncome

tax

Social security/ mandatory employer

tax /pension

Illustration! Will vary between countries and host organisations!!

• Ask host/provide info to the fellow about the salary

• The living allowance can only be used for the purpose of salary, must be checked at the end of the fellowship

Institutional unit costs

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Research training and networking, €800/month

• Training and networking activities thatcontribute to the career development

• Research expenses

• Visa-related fees and travel expenses

• Additional costs during secondments

• Unused amounts may be used for other action-related purposes (increased salary, additionaltraining activities)

Management and indirect costs, €650/month

• To be used for the management of the action

• Unused amounts may be used for otheraction-related purposes

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Timeline

What happenswhen?

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Statistics and results

MSCA IF 201921.04.2020

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9709 proposals evaluated

– 1475 proposals on Main list (~15,2%)

– 655 proposals on Reserve list

– Applicants: 58% male, 42% female

– Main list: 56% male, 44% female

– Evaluated resubmissions: 1576

– Main list: 347 (~22%)0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

PhD in progress 0-3 years 4-6 years 7-9 years 10-12 years 13-15 years +15 years

Scientific age (years since PhD)

mainlist proposals

Data from 2018 call

PhD in progress 0-3 years 4-6 years 7-9 years

10-12 years

13-15 years +15 years

proposals 852 4423 2281 1089 510 249 272

mainlist 82 654 344 177 59 22 13

success rate 9,62 % 14,79 % 15,08 % 16,25 % 11,57 % 8,84 % 4,78 %

Results MSCA IF – Norwegian host institution

Norwegian applications

Evaluated applications

Suggested for funding

2014 84 10

2015 102 6

2016 148 22

2017 175 28

2018 207 25

2019 273 40

84102

148

175

207

273

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019#

app

licat

ion

s

Succ

ess

rat

e

successrate, all applications

Norwegian successrate

Norwegian host institutions

IF-2

01

9:

Fun

din

gra

nge

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Advice

Advice

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• Read the Guide for Applicants and the WorkProgramme carefully!

• Write the first half page of your proposal verycarefully, it’s where you catch or loose the interestof the evaluator

• Describe everything, do not assume that theevaluators know the (Norwegian) system

• Do you think something is irrelevant for yourproposal/topic – address it anyway! The successfulapplicants do!

• Link webpages!

– Evaluators are NOT supposed to look at them

– But they MAY have a peak…

Advice

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• Figures/illustrations/ pictures are sometimesbetter than words, and makes reading less boring…

• Write part B, leave it for 1-2 weeks, read it carefully again. Are you sure you have explained everything in a clear language that the evaluators will understand in the way they are meant to understand it?

• Ask somebody to do a mock evaluation, use the evaluation forms

• The proposal can be submitted repeatedly before the deadline, don’t leave it until the last minute!

Relevant web pages49

• Calls: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home

• MSCA: http://ec.europa.eu/msca

• EURAXESS: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/

• Net4Mobility: https://www.net4mobilityplus.eu/scientific-community/

• European Charter for Researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/european-charter

• MSCA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marie.Curie.Actions

• MSCA on Twitter: @MSCactions

• And lots of useful links in Annex 2 in the IF Guide for applicants (GfA)

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Other information

Widening Fellowships 51

Widening countries under H2020:

• Member States: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

• Associated Countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine.

• part of the Work Programme "Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation“, not the MSCA Work Programme

• applicants submit their proposal to the MSCA-IF-2020 call

• only if your host institution is in a widening country, tick the box in section 5 in Part A (online submission form)

When ranking list for MSCA-IF-2020 call is finalised:

• EF proposals to widening countries on the Main list of MSCA-IF-2020 will be funded under that call.

• Proposals not selected for funding and that have a chance to be funded under the WF call will be automatically resubmitted and considered for funding under the widening call, within the limits of the available budget.

Goal: To stimulate those who have not yet been mobile out of Norway

• MSCA Individual fellowship (12-24 months)– PhD from a Norwegian university

• MSCA Innovative Training Networks (3 – 36 months)– MSc or similar from Norwegian university

• Must have spent at least 5 of the previous 8 years in Norway

• Continous submission

• https://www.forskningsradet.no/en/call-for-proposals/2020/top-up-financing-of-outgoing-msca-fellows/

Top-up financing for outgoing MSCA fellows

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MSCA Special Needs Allowance21.04.2020

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• Lump sum contribution of up to EUR 60 000

• For researchers whose disabilities* are such that their participation in the MSCA would not be possible without extra financial support

• Only beneficiaries of ongoing MSCA grants can apply (IF, ITN, RISE, Cofund)

• One proposal per individual researcher

• Costs for acquisition of special needs items or services

• Costs that are covered by national social security or health insurance are not eligible

* long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments

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Horizon Europe (2021 – 2027)

Horizon Europe: Preliminary structure

Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area

Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I systemWidening participation and spreading excellence

Pillar 1Excellent Science

European Research Council

Marie Skłodowska-Curie

Actions

Research Infrastructures

Pillar 3Innovative Europe

European Innovation Council

European innovation

ecosystems

European Institute of

Innovation

and Technology

Pillar 2Global Challenges and

European Industrial

Competitiveness

• Health

• Culture, Creativity and

Inclusive Society

• Civil Security for Society

• Digital, Industry and Space

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

• Food, Bioeconomy, Natural

Resources, Agriculture and

Environment

Joint Research Centre

Clu

ste

rs

Excellent Science (Pillar 1): reinforcing and extending the

excellence of the Union’s science base

MSCA 2021-2027: under construction

1. MSCA Doctorates → networks training doctoral candidates

2. MSCA Postdocs → postdoctoral researchers

3. MSCA Staff Exchanges → any type of research(-related) staff

4. MSCA COFUND → co-funding training programmes

5. MSCA and Citizens → public outreach events

2. MSCA Postdocs

• Continue supporting post-doctoral research and careers

• Clarify and simplify, a single action with 2 destinations

• Deliver skilled people to academia and beyond

• Intensify exposure/secondments to (training in) entities beyond academia

• Improved guidance towards career development (plan & supervision)?

• Manage the increasing demand to maintain high-quality selection

• Limit research experience

• Require PhD degree

• Restrict resubmissions below quality threshold

Be strategic as a host – use EU programmes for further synergies

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• Key Action 1: Learning mobility of individuals

– Support for mobility for students and staff, in Europe and to/from other parts of the world

– Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree

• Key action 2: Innovation and best practices

– Strategic partnerships

– Knowledge Alliances

– Capacity building

• Key action 3: Support for policy reform

• Jean Monnet

https://diku.no/ressurser-og-verktoey/erasmus

EURAXESS

-jobs / EoIs-rights-moving abroad-…

https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs

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Register as an expert evaluator !

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/work-as-an-expert

Thanks for listening and get in contactif you have questions!

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Marie Skłodowska-Curie ActionsNational Contacts Points in Norway:

Berit Sundby Avset bsa@rcn.no, ph. 93059324

Per Magnus Kommandantvold pmk@rcn.no, ph. 92247635

@MarieCurie_NCP

Participation in the MSCA as a supervisor

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Svenn-Erik Mamelund, research professor at the Work Research Institute (AFI), Oslo Metropolitan University

https://www.forskningsradet.no/nyheter/2020/pandemiforsker-med-stort-utbytte-av-marie-curie-ordningen/

MSCA faq: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/support/faq

Net4Mobility+ faq: https://www.net4mobilityplus.eu/faq/

Questions & Answers

Still haven´t found what your looking for? Send us an e-mail!

Thanks for listening and get in contactif you have questions!

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Marie Skłodowska-Curie ActionsNational Contacts Points in Norway:

Berit Sundby Avset bsa@rcn.no, ph. 93059324

Per Magnus Kommandantvold pmk@rcn.no, ph. 92247635

@MarieCurie_NCP