The MSCA Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN) aim to train entrepreneurial, innovative and resilient doctoral candidates, able to face current and future challenges and to convert knowledge and ideas into products and services for economic and social benefit. MSCA-DN allow doctoral programmes to train doctoral candidates in academia and other sectors, including industry and business. This call has a budget of 608.6 M€.
Deadline: 27 November 2024
The MSCA-DN scheme has three modalities:
Doctoral Networks (DN) – This modality aims at achieving the objectives of the MSCA DN funding scheme, to promote international, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral collaboration in doctoral training, and train excellent doctoral candidates to increase creativity and innovation in Europe and beyond.
Industrial Doctorate (DN-ID) – In this modality, in addition to the core components of MSCA-DN, doctoral candidates are jointly supervised by academic and non-academic organisations. One of these organisations must be entitled to award a doctoral degree. Through the involvement of both sectors in the training process, researchers can acquire skills and competencies that better fit the needs of the public and private sectors. Projects of this type should still comply with all the unique features of MSCA DN, as mentioned further below. Doctoral candidates participating in this program must spend at least 50% of their time in the non-academic sector.
Joint Doctorate (DN-JD) – Alongside meeting all the objectives of MSCA-DN, this modality aims at delivering joint, double or multiple doctoral degrees. Doctoral candidates under this type will be awarded a joint (single diploma issued by at least two officially recognized higher education institutions) or a double/multiple (two or more separate national diplomas issued by two or more officially recognized higher education institutions) PhD degrees. At least two of the beneficiaries entitled to award a PhD degree must be in EU Member States or Associated Countries.
The consortium must include at least three independent legal entities, each established in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, and other organisations from any country in the world can also join. Specific conditions apply to Industrial and Joint Doctorates and should be carefully addressed.
MSCA-DN should exploit complementarities between participating organisations and foster sharing of knowledge and networking activities for example through the organisation of workshops and conferences. Proposed training activities should respond to well identified needs in various R&I areas, with appropriate references to inter- and multidisciplinary fields and follow the EU Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training. They should be primarily focused on developing new scientific knowledge through original research on personalised projects.
Inter-sectoral secondments of researchers to other participating organisations, including in third countries, are encouraged when relevant, feasible and beneficial for the researchers and in line with the project objectives. This will increase the employability of the researchers outside academia.
Doctoral Networks should develop substantial training modules, including digital ones, addressing key transferable skills and competences common to all fields and fostering the culture of Open Science, innovation and entrepreneurship as well as good scientific conduct such as research integrity. In particular, Doctoral Networks should adequately prepare doctoral candidates for increased research collaboration and information-sharing made possible by new (digital) technologies (e.g. collaborative tools, opening access to publications and to other research outputs including data, FAIR data management, societal engagement and citizen science, etc.).
The maximum number of PM per project is 540, which corresponds to 15 doctoral candidates for 36 months, being the funding allocated based on the number of doctoral candidates and duration of the project. We note that the average of funding of the ongoing MSCA-DN is 2-3 M€ per project.
The project INCLUE: From waste to resource: Training young researchers on developing innovative, circular solutions for wastewater treatment sludge is an example of an ongoing MSCA-DN which has the participation of CESAM.
More information and applications can be found in the EU Funding & Tender Portal here (topic: HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01-01). If you want to apply we suggest you to analyse the abstract of awarded applications (in your research area) here.
If you apply, please get in touch with us (cesam-gesciencia@ua.pt).