MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025

Deadline: 25 November 2025 at 17:00

MSCA DN implement doctoral programmes set up by a network of complementary partners from the academic and the non-academic sector in different countries across EU and beyond. DN aim to train creative, entrepreneurial, innovative, resilient and highly skilled doctoral candidates.

Eligibility

Doctoral Networks are open to international consortia of academic and non-academic organisations. They should include:

• at least three independent legal entities, each established in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and with at least one of them established in an EU Member State,
• on top of this minimum, other organisations from any country in the world can also join,
• specific conditions apply to Industrial and Joint Doctorates (JD).

Funding and duration
Project can last for up to 4 years (up to 5 years for JD). The duration of each fellowship is minimum 3 and maximum 36 months, except in the case of joint doctorates, where the maximum duration of a fellowship is 48 months.

The financing is based on unit costs where a researcher month is one unit. The MSCA DN grants covers the following costs:

• living (adjusted through the country correction coefficient),
• relocation (“mobility”)
• family costs (if applicable)
• project related & training costs.
The grant includes overheads (€1200 per month).

Candidates must be recruited under an employment contract or equivalent.

Researchers funded by Doctoral Networks

• must not have a doctoral degree at the date of their recruitment
• can be of any nationality
• should be enrolled in a doctoral programme during the project
• should spend at least 50% of their time outside academia, for Industrial Doctorates
• should comply with the mobility rules

Swiss organizations can participate in MSCA Doctoral Networks (DN) as ‘Beneficiaries’. Doctoral candidates employed by a Swiss Institution count towards the maximum person months per consortium (540 person months). At the approval, should the association agreement not be in place, SERI will fund the projects.

More information
MSCA Doctoral Networks website

Contact
Sara Caspani