MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships by the numbers, 2021-2026 (EU)

The cut-off is the score of the lowest-ranked proposal that was funded. The two strands are ranked separately, so each panel has two.

Source: Spanish national contact point, slides 9 and 10 [4].

This table's taxonomy is not the field table's, and no figure may be carried between them. The releases name eight fields in prose; evaluation uses eight panel codes. They look alignable, no mapping is published, and the years do not even overlap — the field breakdown runs 2021-2025 and these cut-offs are 2025 only.

The Global spread is the wider one: ECO at 93.4 against CHE at 97.6, 4.2 points, where the European spread is 2.0.

◇ One year's rate in this post is computed rather than published: PF-2021's 13.8% is 1,156 funded of 8,356 applications, where every other year uses the Commission's own rate on eligible proposals [1]. Chart (a) draws it and says so in its note.

Doctoral degree

A doctorate, or an unconditional successful defence, before the call deadline: "The researcher must be in possession of a doctoral degree" — or the defence must have "taken place before the call deadline" [9].

A degree from a country that awards none

Counts "only when it corresponds to a doctoral degree" [9].

Research experience

At most 8 years full-time equivalent, "from date of award of the (first) doctoral degree" [9].

What extends the 8 years

Maternity leave ("18 months – i.e. 548 days per child born after the PhD award date, or the exact duration of maternity leave taken, whichever is longest"), paternity leave, compulsory national service, time not spent in research, and long-term sick leave ("periods > 30 days") [9].

From section 2, "Admissibility and Eligibility Conditions" of the call's own Guide for Applicants [9]. The Guide is revised within a call — version 1.1 added the doctoral degree as a criterion, 1.2 clarified what counts as a successful defence, 3.0 added a network protection restriction — so a 2026 applicant reads the 2026 Guide [9].

The 12-in-36 rule

Not more than 12 months in the host country in the previous 36, counted to the call deadline [9].

Country of main activity

"The country where the researcher is resident and where the main activity is performed (e.g., employer)" — so it is residence and work, not nationality [9].

⚠️ The rule is counted against the HOST country, not the fellow's nationality, and the window is the 36 months before the call deadline — so a move made four years ago does not disqualify, and one made last year may.

European Fellowships

12-24 months, in a Member State or associated country. ~93-94% of every call's awards [1]. Which countries those are is below [11].

Global Fellowships

24-36 months: an outgoing phase of 12-24 months in a non-associated third country, then a compulsory 12-month return phase in Europe [9].

A separate competition

Its own ranking and its own cut-offs [4].

The second chance

1,789 proposals took it — the Guide states that proposals which "are not eligible" as Global may be considered as European [9].

A fellowship is hosted in an EU Member State or a country associated to Horizon Europe.

Source: List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe, V4.2 – 07.10.2026 [11]

The 27 EU Member States — all eligible, no qualification:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

Associated countries whose agreements "have now started to produce legal effects" — 23, listed in the document's own alphabetical order, with its own parenthetical qualifications quoted:

⛔ A Pillar II-only association does not make a country eligible to host an MSCA fellowship. MSCA sits in Pillar I, so Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea appear above as associated countries and are not associated for this call on the document's own reading. The governing text is the call's own eligibility conditions [11].

A further group the document lists separately, as agreements not yet producing legal effects: Australia (applicable to Pillar II, for award procedures implementing Union budget for the year 2027 and onwards), Morocco (applicable for the entire Programme), and the United Kingdom (applicable to the EIC fund, for award procedures implementing Union budget for the year 2026 and onwards). The document also records that Liechtenstein does not intend to associate to Horizon Europe.

Unit costs per person-month, fixed in a Commission decision rather than negotiated per project [6].

The increase has a stated basis. The decision adjusted the contributions "according to the cumulative Belgian HICP inflation rate over the period since the last update (October 2023) to June 2025 by 6%" [6]. The living allowance moved exactly 6.0%; mobility, family and both institutional contributions did not move at all.

+6.0% is the call-to-call step and +25.0% is the whole programme (EUR 5,080 → 6,350), and the two must not be quoted interchangeably.

Adding the living, mobility and both institutional contributions, the EU pays a host EUR 8,710 per person-month for a 2026 fellow, against EUR 8,350 in 2024-2025 and EUR 7,330 in 2021-2023 [6]. Family allowance is extra where it applies; the special needs allowance is a band ("EUR 3,000, 4,500, 6,000, 9,500, 13,000, 18,500, 27,500, 35,500, 47,500 or 60,000 x (1/number of months)") and is identical in all three tables [6].

PF-2026 results

Expected 2027; no indicative date published [13].

PF-2027

Opens 07 Apr 2027, deadline 08 Sep 2027 (indicative), budget EUR 459.70 m [13].

PF-2026, for comparison

Opened 09 Apr 2026, deadline 09 Sep 2026, indicative EUR 434.05 m [13].