1. What’s on the Horizon? The MSCA from 2014 onwards
Dr. Jennifer Brennan
Marie Curie National Contact Point

2. Irish Universities Association
Who are we?
Representative body for the seven Irish Universities
What do we do?
Support the universities in developing sectoral policies and strategies
What services do we offer to researchers?
EURAXESS Ireland
Irish Marie Curie Office
Available to Universities, IOTs, Research Centres and Companies

3. Irish Marie Curie Office
Sponsored by the Irish Research Council (
Promote the Actions to Irish researchers and research organisations
Support researchers in preparing funding applications
Contribute to policy initiatives relevant to the Actions

4. Marie Curie Actions, an Irish Success Story
€571 million
Ireland’s “Take” from FP7 to-date
€83 million
Portion of this secured via Marie Curie (2nd Largest FP7 Income-Stream)
€25 million
Funding to support research training for postgraduate students
272
Irish Marie Curie Contracts Signed 5
Among the top 5 performing MS in 2012 Calls
Data based on Contracts signed as of July 2013

6. Marie S-Curie Actions Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions in Horizon 2020:
Training
Mobility
Career
€6.1 billion budget
Funds all research areas (no thematic calls or priorities)
Implemented via Annual Calls for Proposals

7. Which subject areas have been most successful for Ireland?
Chemistry
Economic Sciences
ICT & Engineering
Earth & Environment
Life Sciences
Maths
Physics
Social Sciences & Humanities
Data for Ireland as of July 2013

8. Innovative Training Networks Research & Innovation Staff Exchange
ITN
Innovative Training Networks
RISE
Research & Innovation Staff Exchange
COFUND
Co-funding for national programmes to fund doctoral and post-PhD researchers IF
Individual Fellowships

9. MSCA
Individual Fellowships
Funding for Principal Investigators

10. Individual Fellowships
A personal fellowship to support a period of mobility
For Experienced Researchers
Post-PhD or equivalent
No upper age or experience limit
Fully-funded fellowships
Salary, research costs etc.
Minimum duration 1 year

11. IF – European and Global
Mobility rule
Cannot apply for a fellowship in a country where you have lived for >12 months in the 3 years before the Call deadline
European Fellowships
1 – 2 years
Global Fellowships
2 – 3 years

12. MSCA Funding for PIs
Principal Investigators forming international and/or inter-sectoral research networks to support research training and knowledge transfer
ITN: Innovative Training Networks
RISE: Research and Innovation Staff Exchange
COFUND: Co-funding of regional, national and international programmes
NIGHT: European Researchers’ Night

13. Innovative Training Networks
Quality of Research Training
Research Training Programme for Masters’ and Doctoral Students
Improving career prospects
Equipping with a broad range of research and transferable skills
Promoting Mobility during research training (international and inter-sectoral)
Continuation of FP7 ITN with some new aspects
3 types of ITN

14. Intersectoral involvement is required for all 3 ITN modes

15. Inter-Sectoral Co-operation
Academic <-> Non-Academia
Academic: consists of public or private higher education establishments awarding academic degrees, public or private non-profit research organisations whose primary mission is to pursue research, and international European interest organisations
Non-Academia: includes any socio-economic actor not included in the academic sector and fulfilling the requirements of the Horizon 2020 Rules for Participation.
e.g. Industry (incl. SMEs), charities, NGOs, government/public bodies, national archives, libraries…………

16. Research & Innovation Staff Exchange
Promoting transfer of knowledge between countries and sectors
Three types of RISE award:
International “staff” exchanges between Europe and non-European countries
Inter-sectoral “staff” exchanges between different sectors in Europe (no intra-national exchanges)
Combination of the above
Funds exchange visits from 1 month to 1 year and networking activities (workshops, meetings, conferences etc.)

17. Academia Academia Academia Non-academia Non-academia Non-academia
MS/AC
MS/AC TC
Academia
Academia
Academia
Non-academia
Non-academia
Non-academia

18. COFUND
Increasing Marie Curie opportunities for researchers by co-funding regional, national and international programmes
Over 175 co-funded programmes funded via FP7
All are fellowships programmes (post-PhD researchers or equivalent)
8 in Ireland: majority are run by funding agencies except RCSI, UCD and DOCTRID (intellectual disability charity)
Commission pays for 40% of the programme cost

19. National Contribution
Award Holder
Programme
EU Contribution (40%)
National Contribution
(60%)
University College Dublin
UCD ENERGY-21
€1.8M
€2.8M
UCD Energy 21
Built on one of UCD’s 4 research themes: Earth Sciences, Energy and the Environment
UCD will award 21 fellowships for Experienced Researchers to work at UCD – all fellowships include a secondment outside Ireland
Marie Curie COFUND award provides 40% co-funding from the Commission
60% own funding came from a pool of funds earmarked for the UCD Energy Institute – mix of sources including philanthropic and industry funding

20. COFUND in Horizon 2020 Horizon 2020 will offer co-funding for:
Doctoral Training/Scholarship programmes
Fellowship programmes (post-PhD or equivalent)
Staff exchange programmes (post 2015)
Co-funding rate is ~40%
If you have funding for 10 postdocs/PhD students, you can apply to turn that into funding for 20!

21. Irish Research Council
ELEVATE
IRC has a COFUND award to support the ELEVATE International Career Development Fellowships
ELEVATE is 40% Co-Funded by Marie Curie Actions
Fund all disciplines covered by IRC. Programme is entirely managed by IRC
Awardees are considered “Marie Curie Fellows”
3 year fellowships – two years outside Ireland, one year back
Non-academic hosts are preferred

22. NIGHT European Researchers’ Night
A European-wide public and media event to promote research careers
4th Friday of September each year
Full or part-funding available
Relevant for Education & Outreach aspects of Centres
Discover Research Night 2013
TCD and Royal Irish Academy award in 2013 NIGHT Call
Involving the public in a night of fascinating research activity, linking history and the arts to technology, science and digital media.

23. Reasons to get involved in Marie S-Curie Actions
Build Links with Research Groups and Industry Worldwide
Increase number of research students & staff
Attracting Leading & Up-and-Coming Researchers
Fund a Sabbatical Abroad (up-skill for ERC)
Significant co-financing opportunity through COFUND

24. Deadlines 2014
CALL
Opening Date
Closing Date
H2020-MSCA-ITN-2014
11-Dec-2013
9-Apr-2014
H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014
24-Apr-2014
H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
12-Mar-2014
11-Sep-2014
H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2014
10-Apr-2014
2-Oct-2014
Draft Work Programme is available on EU’s Horizon 2020 Website
(Official Documents Section)
Final version will be available 11th December 2013.
Describes the Calls in 2014 and 2015.

25. mariecurie@iua.ie www.iua.ie/mariecurie
Thank you!