Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions call for application: 16 "Postdoctoral Fellowships" funded projects for the University of Bologna

The European Commission has funded 16 projects at the University of Bologna for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (MSCA-PF) call under the Horizon Europe framework program. The total funding of €4,019,055.26 will enable the implementation of outstanding projects, the recruitment of talented researchers and the consolidation of important national and international collaborations.

The winning projects will cover a variety of areas, comprising 5 of the 8 disciplinary reference panels (Physics, Social Sciences and Humanities, Engineering, Environment, Life Sciences) and will be hosted by 13 Departments. Specifically, the University of Bologna will serve as host institution in 4 projects in the European Fellowships scheme and 12 in the Global Fellowships scheme.

The European scheme, aimed at researchers of all nationalities, funds 12-24 month fellowships at Host Institutions based in Europe. The Global scheme, aimed at researchers with nationality of an EU Member or Associated country, supports 24-36 month fellowships characterized by an initial phase carried out in a Third Country (i.e., not among the EU Member or Associated States of Horizon Europe) and a 12-month return phase at the Host Institution in Europe, to promote knowledge acquisition and transfer and structural impact on European Host Institutions.

In addition to the 16 winning projects, there are 6 projects on the backup list and 10 other projects that have been awarded the "Seal of Excellence - MSC Actions", given by the European Commission to projects with a score of 85/100 or higher. These projects, although recognized as excellent, were not funded due to the exhaustion of the community budget available on the program. A total of 16 (including the 6 on the backup list) projects have received the Seal of Excellence. The Seal of Excellence allows recipients who receive it to access other sources of funding, European, national, and local.

"With this outstanding achievement, of which we are proud, the University of Bologna reaps the benefits of the investments made to support Marie Curie projects." - states the Vice Rector for Research Alberto Credi -"We are very pleased with the opportunity given to these young researchers and their supervisors to carry out their projects of excellence at the University of Bologna, within the framework of important international collaborations. Moreover, we hope that the many projects awarded with the Seal of Excellence will also be able to be developed in our University thanks to the NRRP funding reserved for young researchers."

The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) are the main instrument at the European level for promoting and supporting the careers of researchers and have become the European flagship program for doctoral and postdoctoral training.

At the European level, 7044 proposals were submitted for an available budget of 257 million euros. Among the submitted proposals, 6909 were eligible and 1235 were funded (1093 European and 142 Global). The average European success rate, calculated from 7044 applications received, is 17.50% while the University of Bologna's success rate, at 23.19%, exceeds the European one.

The ARIC Research Area Office - Research Development Sector - Social Sciences and Humanities & Excellent Science supported all successful projects (winning funding or Seal of Excellence recognition).