Portugal Secures Record-Breaking Funding in the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks Call for Proposals

Portuguese institutions secured €18.72 million in the 2025 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks (MSCA DN) call for proposals, representing 3.13% of the total funding available.

Five of the winning consortia are led by Portuguese institutions: one from the University of Porto, two from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, one from the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (I3S), and another from the University of Aveiro. In addition, Portuguese institutions are part of another 34 winning consortia, though in these cases they do not serve as coordinators.

The MSCA Doctoral Networks are a Horizon Europe instrument designed to fund international doctoral programs, requiring consortia comprising at least three institutions from three different countries. Like the other Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, they aim to support the training and career development of researchers through three dimensions of mobility: between countries, between the academic and non-academic sectors, and across disciplines.

Funding secured by Portuguese institutions under this Horizon Europe program has been steadily increasing, as shown by the data for the period from 2021 to 2025:

The next MSCA DN call for proposals is scheduled to take place between May 26 and November 23 of this year. As in previous years, the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) will hold an information session about this call and, subsequently, a proposal-writing workshop for applicants. Both initiatives will be announced in due course via the FCT’s Horizon Europecontact list and the FCT news page.

The FCT is responsible for promoting Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions in Portugal, regularly holding information sessions and proposal writing workshops. It is also responsible for representing Portugal on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Program Configuration Committee, within the European Union.