Marie Curie (MSCA) Fellowship: My Application Experience
Hendrik Roch
Abstract: I will briefly share my experience applying for a Marie Curie (MSCA) postdoctoral fellowship, focusing on the proposal structure, timeline, and key lessons learned from a successful application. The session is intended to be informal and interactive, with time for discussion.
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship Application: What might have worked for me and my experience in writing research proposal
Shivani Verma
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) are among the most competitive postdoctoral funding schemes in Europe, with a success rate of 9.6% in 2025. The fellowship is awarded on the basis of a structured research proposal, making the application document itself the most critical, and often the most challenging component of the process.
In this talk, I will share my experience of preparing an MSCA-PF application and reflect on what might have worked in my case. I will discuss how we try to strengthen key sections of the proposal, including the impact and implementation sections of the proposed research plan. In particular, I will focus on how to effectively communicate a compelling and feasible research idea within the constraints of the MSCA template and how to align the proposal with the evaluation criteria.
The aim is to provide an experience-based perspective that complements the official guidelines and helps future applicants approach their MSCA proposals with greater clarity.
