Portugal Achieves Strong Results in the 2026 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchanges European Call for Proposals

Portuguese institutions secured 4.10 million euros in the 2026 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges (MSCA SE) call for proposals, which represents 4.17% of the total funding to be awarded.

Two of the winning proposals are led by Portuguese institutions: one by COFAC – Cooperativa de Formação e Animação Cultural, C.R.L., affiliated with Lusófona University, and the other by IST-ID – Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento. Overall, Portuguese institutions are involved in 39 of the winning proposals.

MSCA SE is a Horizon Europe instrument designed to fund the mobility of researchers, technical staff, and science managers directly involved in research, at any stage of their careers. Applicant consortia must include 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.

Participation by Portuguese institutions in this Horizon Europe program has been quite positive, with 30.01 million euros already secured since the start of Horizon Europe.

In 2026, Portuguese institutions that were part of applicant consortia (as coordinators or participants) had a success rate of 23.65%, slightly higher than the European average of 22.38%. The success rate of Portuguese institutions in this call for proposals has been in line with the European average since the start of Horizon Europe, as shown by the data collected between 2021 and 2026:

The next MSCA SE call for proposals is expected to be open from December 15, 2026, to April 15, 2027, and will be the last one under the current framework program.

The FCT is responsible for promoting the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions in Portugal, regularly holding informational sessions and proposal-writing workshops —initiatives that are publicized through a call for expressions of interest (by filling out a form) and in news items published on the FCT website. The FCT is also responsible for representing Portugal on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Program Configuration Committee within the European Union.