Following queries from subscribers, UKRO would like to provide further guidance on including information on publication(s), previous experiences and/or project-relevant infrastructure in Part A and Part B of the application for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) 2023 call.
Part A
In the administrative Part (Part A) of the MSCA PF 2023 standard application template applicants have the opportunity to include:
- A list of up to five publications;
- A list of relevant previous projects; and
- A list of significant infrastructure.
In this section of the template, the applicant and/or the host institution(s) can choose to list the host institution’s achievements relevant to the proposed research and which have been published/performed at the host institution(s) or are associated with the host institution(s).
These achievements could be papers, datasets, software or other achievements that are relevant to the research project proposed by the potential fellow. These projects do not have to be currently ongoing and can also include finished projects or those recently awarded. These projects or activities do not need to be funded by the European Commission.
By including this information, applicants can highlight to evaluators that the host institution(s) has/have the relevant knowledge, expertise and/or facilities the fellow would need to complete their project successfully. This information does not pertain to the researcher, but to the host institution(s).
As recently published by UKRO, the Research Executive Agency has confirmed that this section in Part A does not need to be completed by applicants to the MSCA PF 2023 call. This aligns with previous call years.
Therefore, applicants will not be penalised if they do not complete these sections in Part A. However, if applicants do decide to provide information in those sections, it may be taken into account and potentially contribute to the evaluation of their application.
Part B
While the section in Part A relates to the host institution(s) for the proposed MSCA project, the supervisor and the fellow must describe their publication(s), experiences and the quality and capacity of the host institution and participating organisations in the relevant sections of Part B. This allows the evaluators to assess the researcher’s and supervisors’ individual experiences and qualifications to undertake the project.
Applicants are advised to follow the standard application template while keeping the evaluation criteria as set out in the MSCA Work Programme 2023-2024 in mind.
In case of questions, please contact the UK MSCA National Contact Point for free advice: mariecurie-uk@ukro.ac.uk.