MSCA opens €97.9 million call for Staff Exchanges

MSCA opens €97.9 million call for Staff Exchanges

The action offers a unique opportunity to promote the transfer of knowledge and innovation through international research collaborations.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges 2026 call is open as of 16 December 2025. The deadline to submit proposals is 16 April 2026.

Under this call, the European Commission will award €97.9 million to promote international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in research and innovation by enabling staff exchanges and the sharing of knowledge across all stages of the innovation chain.

Staff secondments

Secondments are at the core of MSCA Staff Exchanges, serving as the key method to foster cooperation among the participating organisations.

Through these exchanges, projects have the opportunity to exchange and train not only researchers and innovators but also the administrative, technical, and managerial personnel who support research activities.

Staff members spend periods of up to 12 months working abroad to acquire new skills, broaden their professional networks, share expertise, and contribute to advancing cutting-edge research. As a result, secondments help build enduring international partnerships and strengthen the overall research ecosystem.

After their secondment, staff must return to their sending institution to maximise knowledge transfer and support long-term collaboration.

The project should inter alia enable networking activities and the organisation of workshops and conferences, to facilitate sharing of knowledge and testing of innovative approaches for specific R&I topics.

Novelties in the 2026 call

The newly adopted 2026-27 Work Programme introduced several significant simplifications aimed at reducing application complexity and increasing flexibility for applicants.

While maintaining the core strengths of the action - its international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility - the new rules allow same-sector secondments, remove the previous one-third limit tied to interdisciplinarity, and encourage strong international cooperation.

The minimum consortium structure is still of three organisations from three countries, with mandatory participation from academic and non-academic sectors.

Skills development requirements are now more explicit implying that proposals should clearly describe how planned international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary secondments will expose seconded staff to different skills, working cultures or career paths.

To further simplify the conditions, the former "one-month rule" before the first secondment has been removed, although secondments must still be carried out full-time.

International consortia

Staff Exchanges enable organisations to build international partnerships with other leading organisations. They can strengthen long-term collaboration and increase their capacities.

Staff Exchanges projects are highly international and intersectoral, bringing together diverse partners to address shared research goals. They are carried out by consortia that typically include multiple organisations from EU member states, non-EU countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme, and often additional entities from other parts of the world (third countries).

This global collaboration strengthens the exchange of knowledge, fosters innovation across sectors, and enhances the overall impact of the research.

Who can apply?

Minimal conditions for forming an MSCA Staff Exchanges consortium include

• Members: at least three independent legal entities in three different countries
• Countries: the three entities must be established in different countries; at least two must be in different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Above this minimum any other country can join
• Sectors: the consortium must include both academic and non-academic organisations

Eligible staff include researchers at any career stage, as well as administrative, managerial, and technical personnel supporting the project's R&I activities.

Eligibility by country

Organisations based in EU Member States and countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme can participate as beneficiaries. This means they are eligible for funding and can second, host, and train staff members.

Organisations based in all other non-EU countries (third countries) can participate as associated partners.

• Only low to middle-income third countries listed in the list of participating countries in Horizon Europe are automatically eligible to receive funding for sending a staff member to an EU Member State and Horizon Europe Associated Country. (see specific conditions in the MSCA Work Programme)
• Organisations based in high-income third countries are not eligible for funding and therefore have to participate at their own cost. Some countries such as Japan, Canada, Brazil and India have set up complementary funding mechanisms to cover project costs. Interested organisations should refer to the relevant national authorities.

Secondments between two non-associated third countries are not eligible. If you are not sure about your country's status, have a look at the list of participating countries to Horizon Europe.

Indicative timeline

• 16 December 2025: launch of the call for proposals
• 16 April 2026: deadline for submitting proposals
• September 2026: notification of call results to applicants (TBC)
• November 2026: grant agreement signature for successful projects (TBC)
• January 2027: first EU-funded projects start (TBC)

Find out more and apply