Horizon Europe: MSCA Doctoral Networks

MSCA Doctoral Networks (DN) are submitted and implemented by partnerships of universities, research institutions and research infrastructures, businesses including SMEs, and other socio-economic actors.

The networks must consist of at least three independent organizations from different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries (including at least one organization from an EU Member State).

The research topic can be chosen freely and the structured training programs should follow the EU principles for „Innovative Doctoral Training“.

Within a Doctoral Network, up to 540 person-months can be funded.

Usually, the networks can run for up to 4 years. However, there are two special forms: 

• Joint Doctorates: lead to joint or multiple doctoral degrees and can have a duration of up to 5 years.
• Industrial Doctorates: involve a strong participation from the non-academic sector (industry/business). 

The duration of each individual fellowship is between 3 months and 3 years (for Joint Doctorates: up to 4 years).

All details regarding the call and the submission process can be found on the European Commission’s "Funding & tender opportunities" portal.

Results from previous calls and an overview of funded projects can be found on the dedicated call pages on the F&T portal under “Call Update” or “Projects funded under this topic”. 

Further information (including details of our proposal check service) and links to important documents can be found in our "Online Infopackage: Proposal Writing for Doctoral Networks".

Networks of public and/or private research institutions offering high-quality training programs for doctoral candidates.

The EC provides funding for personnel costs, mobility costs, research, training, and networking costs, management costs, and indirect costs.

Up to approximately €4.7 million; up to 15 doctoral candidates

The European Commission funds the researcher's activities and part of the costs of implementing the project. 

It should be noted that these contributions may not fully cover the actual costs of doctoral candidates' salaries. The exact amount of the cost contributions can be found in the FFG info sheet. 

A consortium must have at least three independent organizations from different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries (including at least one organization from an EU Member State).

Recruited researchers must be doctoral candidates, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment, and enrolled in a doctoral programme in at least one MS/AC.

Supported researchers can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date. 

Generally, doctoral candidates must be employed full-time within the project, although exceptions may be made for personal or family reasons. 

Project applications must be submitted via the European Commission's Funding and Tenders Portal.

The results of the evaluation are expected in April 2027.