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The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions are part of the wider Horizon Europe research and innovation funding programme and support researchers at all stages of their careers, across all research disciplines and in all employment sectors.
This action provides funding to scale up and move towards more customised support for researchers at risk.
Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:
• More targeted and customised support for researchers at risk at European, national and institutional level;
• Improved support to researchers at risk through the provision of policy recommendations, as well as advice and assistance on their implementation;
• A more sustainable and professionalised support network/structure/system for researchers at risk across Europe, facilitating access to funding and networking opportunities, creating level playing field for applicants to European and national R&I programmes, and raising the quality of submitted proposals;
• More synergies between initiatives supporting researchers at risk funded by EU programmes (such as Horizon Europe and Erasmus+) and national or institutional actors;
• Increased exposure of researchers at risk to the industry and to the non-academic sector notably through targeted networking events, professional training, mentoring and guidance;
• Greater awareness in Europe and beyond on why researchers are at risk and ways to support them.
Building on the available results of past and on-going Researchers at Risk initiatives which have strengthened support structures across the EU and provided some form of guidance for researchers at risk, further support is envisaged for scaling up and moving towards more customised support for researchers at risk based on the needs already identified in the national and EU initiatives implemented so far. Lack of regular needs-based training and targeted networking activities remains a challenge for many researchers at risk in Europe without professional networks and direct sources of information addressing their specific needs.
Moving further from solely identifying researchers’ needs, this action should aim at delivering the best possible solutions to the challenges faced by researchers.
The support action should be aligned with the general objectives of the MSCA, in particular scientific excellence, skills and career development, inter-sectoral mobility, equal opportunities and inclusiveness, attractive working conditions, work/life balance, while fostering open science, innovation and entrepreneurship. This action will place a specific focus on training and networking activities for researchers, in line with the MSCA priorities and as a step further in providing sustainable and needs-based professional development support for researchers at risk across Europe.
It should not duplicate other actions foreseen under Horizon Europe or other EU-funded programmes such as Erasmus+, but rather build synergies between these programmes. The activities carried out under this support action should complement actions in EU Member States and third countries associated to Horizon Europe.
The expected duration of the action is 36 months.
The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of between EUR 1.00and 1.50 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately.
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