Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network 2026

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks are a European Union funding scheme under Horizon Europe, run by the European Commission. The programme supports consortia of universities, research institutes, companies, and other partners that recruit doctoral candidates for structured, international PhD training.

Rather than being a single scholarship at one university, MSCA Doctoral Networks fund many individual PhD positions across different thematic projects and host institutions. The opportunities are typically based in Europe, although networks may include partners and secondments in other regions. The programme is designed to give doctoral researchers strong academic training together with interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international experience.

In most cases, funded positions are fully funded employment-based PhD posts. Reference postings show that support commonly includes a salary or living allowance, a mobility allowance, and research or training support; some posts also cover tuition or operate as fee-free enrolment depending on the host institution. Candidates may also benefit from secondments, conference participation, and specialist training provided by the network.

MSCA Doctoral Networks usually recruit applicants who already hold a relevant Master’s degree or equivalent and who meet the doctoral admission requirements of the host institution. A key rule repeatedly seen in postings is the MSCA mobility rule: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the host country for more than 12 months in the 36 months before recruitment. Applicants must also generally not already hold a doctoral degree.

Applications are usually submitted to the recruiting university or project website for a specific doctoral candidate position, not to the European Commission directly. Because each network and host institution sets its own research topic, documents, and timetable, students should carefully review the vacancy notice, host university requirements, and project-specific eligibility criteria before applying.