The Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) has published an updated report for 2024 on the results of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) end-of-fellowship evaluation questionnaires under Horizon 2020 (H2020).
As reported by UKRO in 2021, the first report published by DG EAC reviewed MSCA fellows’ answers to the evaluation questionnaires, with answers submitted until January 2021. An updated report was then released in 2023, which highlighted the key findings and conclusions from all questionnaires submitted until October 2022.
The 2024 report provides another update on the results of these surveys, as well as a more specific analysis of the results focused on the different scientific fields.
Results
Overall, there is a high satisfaction rate amongst MSCA fellows including with regards to the quality of training they received and the impact on their career development.
- Nearly all fellows (96%) who undertook part of their fellowship outside of academia consider the experience to have positively contributed to their career development. 54% consider it to have had either a large or very large benefit on their career since.
- 85% of respondents rated the training they received as good or very good. 11% considered it of fair quality.
- 98.4% of fellows have used the skills they acquired during their MSCA fellowship in their career since, with 67% using the skills they developed to a large or very large extent.
- Over 90% of former fellows consider the MSCA fellowship to have had a good or very good impact on their professional development.
- The majority of MSCA fellows found employment soon after their MSCA project, with only 4% of fellows reporting that they were unemployed two years after completion of the fellowship.
- The majority of MSCA fellows continue to work in the subject field of their MSCA fellowship. 63% continue to work within academia two years after completion of the fellowship.
Background
After the end of their fellowship, MSCA fellows must complete two short questionnaires. These questionnaires aim to gather information which will help DG EAC assess the impact of the MSCA on the fellows’ skills development, career and employability.
Fellows must submit the first questionnaire immediately after the end of the fellowship. This questionnaire collects information on the fellows’ MSCA project experience, the skills they acquired during the fellowship and any immediate next steps they will take after their MSCA project.
The fellows must submit a second, follow-up questionnaire two years after the fellowship. This questionnaire collects further information on the mid- and long-term impact of the MSCA fellowship on fellows’ career trajectories.
Since 2018, a total of over 21,000 MSCA fellows have completed the evaluation questionnaire and nearly 2,500 the follow-up questionnaire.
Next steps
As MSCA projects under Horizon 2020 (H2020) have just recently finished or are still ongoing, DG EAC will continue these surveys to gather additional information which will be used to inform the development of the MSCA programme under Horizon Europe. In parallel, DG EAC will revise and adapt these surveys for information gathering from MSCA fellows under H2020.