MSCA Staff Exchanges 2026
Enriched EU · Found: 2026-03-14 20:55
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges enable staff mobility between academic and non-academic organisations across sectors and countries. NGOs are explicitly eligible as non-academic partners in consortia covering any research topic including circular economy and plastic waste.
Source: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/calls/msca-staff-exchanges-2026
Funding Details
- Funder
- European Commission / Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
- Funding Goal
- Support international and cross-sector research staff mobility through secondments between academic and non-academic organisations, fostering knowledge exchange and research collaboration across EU and third countries
- Funding Amount
- Total call budget EUR 97.9 million; individual project grants vary by number of secondments (EUR 8,000-9,000 per person-month); typical project EUR 300K-1.5M (100.000 € – 2.000.000 €)
- Deadline
- 2026-04-16 (Fixed)
- How to Apply
- Submit via EU Funding and Tenders Portal by 16 April 2026 at 17:00 CEST. Topic: HORIZON-MSCA-2026-SE-01-01. Call opened 16 December 2025. Register at marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/calls/msca-staff-exchanges-2026.
- Target Region
- EU and Horizon Europe associated countries; third-country partners from India, Southeast Asia, Africa eligible
- Contact
- MSCA national contact points; marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu; Q&A session recordings available on the MSCA website
- Last Checked
- 2026-03-15 08:22
Application Checklist
Eligibility
Project Scope
Required Documents
Constraints
Summary
The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges (MSCA-SE) 2026 call provides EUR 97.9 million for international and cross-sector staff exchange networks. The programme enables research staff to undertake secondments of 1 to 12 months between academic institutions, research organisations, NGOs, companies, and public bodies across multiple countries. The goal is to foster knowledge exchange, build research partnerships, and transfer expertise across sectors and borders. A consortium must include at least 3 organisations from 3 different countries, with at least 2 from EU Member States or associated countries. Critically, consortia must span both the academic and non-academic sectors. NGOs are explicitly listed as eligible non-academic participants alongside enterprises, museums, hospitals, and public authorities. Third-country partners from India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Kenya are all eligible and can receive EU co-funding when partnered with EU institutions. For a Danish NGO working on marine plastic waste value chains, MSCA Staff Exchanges could be used to build research partnerships with Nordic universities (e.g. RUC ENSPAC/Kristian Syberg, DTU Aqua, Aalborg University) plus research institutions in India (IIT, TERI), Indonesia (ITB), or East Africa (University of Nairobi). Exchange staff could develop joint research on plastic waste quantification, circular economy metrics, or value chain impact assessment. The NGO would serve as the non-academic partner providing operational expertise. The 2026 call closes 16 April 2026 — this is an urgent deadline. Total budget is EUR 97.9 million. Individual consortium grants are determined by the number of person-months of secondments proposed. The co-funding rate is 100%.
Historical Context
Annual MSCA SE calls. 2025 call closed February 2025. 2026 call opened December 2025. Pattern: December opening, April deadline. 2027 call (FORTHCOMING) deadline April 2027.
Why it was added
grant-scan-list6-2026-03-14
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