The European Commission will award €404.3 million to 1,610 postdoctoral researchers to conduct projects at leading universities, research centers, public and private organizations, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The European Research Executive Agency (REA) received 17,066 applications, of which 16,836 were eligible and evaluated, resulting in a 9.6% success rate. The selected researchers represent nearly 80 nationalities and will work across 45 countries in Europe and beyond.
Of the total funding, €343.7 million will support 1,446 researchers through European Postdoctoral Fellowships, allowing them to carry out their projects within the EU or countries associated with Horizon Europe. An additional €60.6 million will fund 164 researchers through Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, enabling them to conduct part of their research outside the EU, primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia, before returning to Europe. Projects will be coordinated by organizations in 27 countries in the EU and associated Horizon Europe nations, with the top coordinating countries being the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland.
Recipients of the Global Fellowships will conduct research in 18 countries worldwide not associated with Horizon Europe and will subsequently return to EU-based host organizations. The selected projects cover all scientific disciplines, with social sciences and humanities accounting for 23.4% and life sciences 20.8% of the funded projects. Detailed evaluation results, cut-off scores, and project lists are published on the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 call page and in CIRCABC, with the complete list to be available on CORDIS once grant agreements are finalized.
Successful applicants and host organizations have been informed of the selection outcomes and can access evaluation results through their personal portals on the Funding and Tenders Opportunities Portal. The letters provide instructions for preparing grant agreements with the European Research Executive Agency, with the earliest projects expected to start in April 2025. A reserve list of 261 projects may receive funding if additional resources become available.
Additionally, 41 ERA Fellowships will be awarded to excellent researchers to conduct their fellowships in “widening countries” under the European Research Area Fellowships Action. Applicants selected for ERA Fellowships receive results and instructions together with the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships letters.
Looking ahead, the next call for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships is scheduled to open on 9 April 2026. The year 2026 also marks the 30th anniversary of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), which since 1996 has supported over 150,000 researchers, including 23 Nobel Prize winners, and has played a key role in fostering research mobility, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation across Europe.
