MSCA Doctoral Networks

Overview

Typically, the network partnership will bring world-leading and complementary expertise, bringing together a compelling project idea with a high-quality training experience. This is delivered through partnerships of organisations across Europe and beyond to train highly skilled doctoral candidates for research and innovation careers and long-term employability.

Doctoral Networks are part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions under Horizon Europe’s Pillar 1: Excellent Science. They bring together organisations from different countries and sectors to recruit, train and supervise doctoral candidates.

They support structured doctoral training through research, mobility, transferable skills development and experience across academic and non-academic environments.

Projects can involve universities, research organisations, businesses, SMEs, public bodies, charities and other socio-economic actors. They are open to all areas of research and innovation.

Who this is for

MSCA Doctoral Networks are for organisations that want to work together to deliver international doctoral training. They are suitable for:

higher education institutions
research organisations and infrastructures
private sector organisations, including industry, businesses and SMEs
public sector organisations, including national, regional, and local governments,
agencies, and museums
other socio-economic organisations, including NGOs, charities, cultural organisations, etc.

Doctoral candidates are recruited by the funded network. Individual researchers do not apply directly for Doctoral Networks funding.

What this could help you do

An MSCA Doctoral Network could help you:

develop an international doctoral training programme
recruit, train and supervise doctoral candidates
build partnerships between academic and non-academic organisations
support international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral mobility
enhance training and career development systems to improve the structure of institutions
increase the long-term employability of doctoral candidates

Types of Doctoral Networks

There are 3 types of MSCA Doctoral Networks.

Standard Doctoral Networks support international partnerships that deliver doctoral training across different countries, sectors and disciplines.
Industrial Doctorates support doctoral training where academic and non-academic partners work closely together. Doctoral candidates are jointly supervised and develop skills for careers inside and outside academia.
Joint Doctorates support highly integrated international doctoral programmes. They involve joint supervision and lead to a joint doctoral degree or multiple doctoral degrees awarded by participating institutions.

What you can get

Funding can support each recruited doctoral candidate with:

a living allowance
a mobility allowance
if applicable, family, long-term leave and special needs allowances

In addition, dedicated funding is provided for:

research, training and networking costs (e.g. secondments, workshops and network events)
management and indirect costs

The exact funding rules and unit contributions are set out in the latest MSCA Work Programme document and call documents.

What proposals are eligible

Doctoral Networks are open to international consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs and other non-academic organisations. The consortium must include at least three independent legal entities, each based in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. At least one must be based in an EU Member State.

In addition, other organisations from any country in the world can also take part where relevant to the project.

MSCA Doctoral Networks provide funding to recruit and train doctoral candidates for up to four years, or five years for Joint Doctorate projects. Fellowships are funded for periods of 3 to 36 months, extending to 48 months for Joint Doctorate fellowships.

Each beneficiary is required to recruit at least one doctoral candidate and may arrange secondments with organisations worldwide.

Specific conditions apply to Industrial Doctorates and Joint Doctorates. Resubmission restrictions may also apply.

Doctoral candidates

Doctoral candidates recruited under the Doctoral Networks:

must not have a doctoral degree at the date of their recruitment
can be of any nationality
should be enrolled in a doctoral programme during the project
should spend at least 50% of their time outside academia, for Industrial Doctorates
should comply with the mobility rule: in general, they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organisation for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.

Funding in practice

Training researchers to improve future drivetrains

The PATRON Doctoral Network received around €2.66 million in EU funding to develop new approaches to monitoring the health and performance of next-generation drivetrains. Coordinated by KU Leuven, the network brings together universities and industry partners, with doctoral candidates working across areas including mechanical engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence and condition monitoring.

View the PATRON project on their website

Next steps and support

Read about on their website the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions policy, strategy, how to apply and work programmes.
Find out if you are eligible to apply, read about the types of Doctoral Networks and what the funding covers by visiting the Doctoral Networks — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions website.
Read the MSCA Doctoral Networks application guidance for more information on how to plan and prepare your proposal in 6 steps.
Find out more about the latest and previous calls on the MSCA Doctoral Networks call page.
For further guidance and support with your application contact your NCP for MSCA.

Find current MSCA Doctoral Networks calls

The deadline to submit proposals is 24 November 2026, 17:00 CET. Check the latest call page for the full timetable, budget and application documents.

Find and apply for MSCA Doctoral Networks calls on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal
(external link)

To apply for funding through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, you need an EU Login account. If you do not already have one, register for an EU Login account on the EU Funding and Tenders portal.

Your organisation also needs a Participant Identification Code (PIC) to be included as a participant in a funding application and to manage the grant if the application is successful. If your organisation does not yet have one, find out how to register your organisation and get a PIC on the EU Funding and Tenders portal.

Last updated: 29 October 2026