Tips and tricks for your Marie-Curie Post Doctoral Fellowship

By Olivier Schaetzle, Project Officer - GO

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF) are part of the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA), a programme belonging to the Horizon Europe research funding framework of the European Union. 

 If you are considering applying to the current MSCA PF 2025 call for proposals (deadline 10^th September 2025 – 5 PM CET), here are a few tips and tricks: 

• A grant is not a scientific publication: 

You are probably used to writing scientific articles: writing a grant application is very different. Your audience is not made of interested specialists, your audiences are reviewers, often not ultra specialized in your field, not necessarily interested in your topic and probably already tired by the 5 grants they just read. Your job is to educate the reviewers while keeping them interested. No excessive jargon or over-detailed techniques here, be clear and use simple, to the point sentences. 

• You only have 10 pages: 

You will have to address the excellence of your project, the methodology, explain why it matters that you get the funding, show the impact of your project (eg. societal, economical) and demonstrate that your project is feasible. Remove any unnecessary statement and be as clear and concrete as possible. If you say that you will communicate about the project, explain exactly how (e.g. I will present my work at the yearly International Congress on Infectious Disease.)  

• Most project only last 2 years: 

Be realistic with the project you are proposing. Keep in mind that you need to be able to do everything you promised in a relatively short time frame. It is more about quality than quantity. 

• Training and Career: 

The MSCA programme is very much focused on training and career development. You are not only writing about the great science you will do but also about how you will acquire the skills and competences that will enable you to make a great career, in academia or elsewhere. Take the time to think about how you will acquire what you need for the next steps of your career. The Career Development Plan is a mandatory deliverable.  

• Two-way transfer:  

It is as much about what you will get from the lab that hosts you as it is about what the lab will get from you. Think about what you will bring to your future team. 

• Do not neglect anything: 

The MSCA PF call is very competitive. You cannot afford to neglect any section. Follow the template to the word and do not bet on your science to compensate for the rest. 

You can consult a useful handbook made by the network of MSCA National Contact Points here 

• Get help: 

Contact the Grants Office at goeurope[@]pasteur.fr. A project officer will help you in all aspects of your application (proof-reading, admin sections, ethics, impact, implementation, etc.)