MSCA Staff Exchanges 2027

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes: For staff members

• Increased set of research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects within and outside academia;
• More knowledge and innovative ideas converted into products, processes and services;
• More entrepreneurial mind-sets, testing new and innovative ideas;
• Increased international exposure leading to extended networks and opportunities;
• Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations

• Innovative ways of cooperation and transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines;
• Strengthened and broader international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaborative networks;
• Boosted R&I capacity.

Scope:

MSCA Staff Exchanges involve organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors (including SMEs) from across the globe. International cooperation through the participation of organisations from non-associated third countries is strongly encouraged. Support is provided for international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility of R&I staff leading to knowledge transfer between participating organisations. Mobility through secondments The organisations constituting the partnership contribute directly to the implementation of a joint R&I project by seconding and/or hosting eligible staff members. Such a project must explore activities that can be based on previous work but should go beyond and generate or strengthen long-term collaborations. Secondments must involve physical mobility [1] of the eligible staff members and must always take place between legal entities independent from each other. MSCA Staff Exchanges can address different dimensions of mobility: international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary [2] . Exchanges between organisations within EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries should mainly be inter-sectoral, but same-sector exchanges are also possible. Interdisciplinarity is particularly encouraged for secondments between academic organisations. The collaborative approach of MSCA Staff Exchanges should exploit complementary competences of the participating organisations and create synergies between them. The secondments should be essential to achieve the joint project’s R&I activities. The project should inter alia enable networking activities and the organisation of workshops and conferences, to facilitate sharing of knowledge and testing of innovative approaches for specific R&I topics. Skills’ development For participating staff members, the project should offer new skills acquisition and career development perspectives. Participating organisations must ensure that the seconded staff are adequately mentored. Proposals should clearly describe how planned international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary secondments will expose seconded staff to different skills, working cultures or career trajectories. [1] Virtual mobility is not allowed for secondments. [2] Interdisciplinarity means the integration of information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts or theories from two or more scientific disciplines (see definitions at the end of this Work Programme part).

Submissions open on 15 December 2026.

Part of call HORIZON-MSCA-2027-SE-01

Type of action: HORIZON TMA MSCA Staff Exchanges

Programme period: 2021 - 2027

"> General conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .

3. Other Eligibility Conditions

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual .

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Application and evaluation forms and model g