Editorial · CASRAI · Funding lifecycle and financial vocabulary
Horizon Europe ERC and MSCA Funding: Instruments, Eligibility and UK Association
Horizon Europe supports European research through two complementary but fundamentally different funding pillars: the European Research Council, which funds investigator-driven frontier research through Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy grants, and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, which fund researcher mobility and training through Doctoral Networks, Postdoctoral Fellowships and COFUND schemes. The two instruments differ in purpose, eligibility, host institution requirements and the career stages they target. Understanding how ERC grants fund visionary individual researchers pursuing their own scientific ideas, while MSCA schemes prioritise cross-border mobility and structured doctoral and postdoctoral training, helps institutions and researchers identify which instrument best fits their ambitions. This article examines both pillars in depth, including the significance of the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and what this means in practice for researchers based at UK institutions.
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