Marie Sklodowska Curie

Marie Sklodowska Curie Horizon 2020

The Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSC) project, under the H2020 pillar Excellent Science, distinguishes itself from other H2020 projects in several ways, the most important of which is the fact that the budget and costs are established or covered, respectively, from flat rates (Unit-costs) instead of de facto costs. Coverage of indirect costs uses flat rates, not percentage increases, unlike other projects.

MSC includes a range of different project types (Actions):

• MSC-IF = Individual Fellowships – grants for individual researchers (mono beneficiary contracts)

IF variants:
European Fellowships (EF)
Global Fellowships (GF)

• MSC ITN = Initial Training Networks – grants for research networks (multi beneficiary contracts)

ITN variants:
European Training Networks (ETN)
European Industrial Doctorates (EID)
European Joint Doctorates (EJD)

• MSC - RISE – Personnel exchange between partners (multi beneficiary)
• COFUND – co-funding of regional, national and international programmes.

Budget and expense compensation

There are two budget categories within MSC projects.

1. Costs for the recruited researcher
2. Institutional costs

The budget category “Cost for the recruited researcher” is constructed in such a way so as to provide the following allowances for the researcher:

• Living allowance – basic monthly allowance, i.e. salary – paid out every month
• Mobility allowance – allowance for foreign service – paid out every month
• Family allowance – for researchers with families – paid out every month

The budget category Institutional costs consists of:

• Research training and networking costs – grants for the researcher’s travels, conferences and other activities associated with the project.
• Management and indirect costs – contributions to administrative and indirect costs

Overview of flat rates (in EUR) for the various budget categories according to Horizon 2020 – Work Programme 2018-2020 MSC Actions

*Living allowance is included in the calculation with a country coefficient meant to offset differing living expenses between participant countries. The coefficient for Sweden in the Work programme 2018-2020 is 121,8 percent

The flat rates indicated for each project are always stated in the Grant Agreement. Therefore, balancing must always be done against a contract including definitive budget before salary and other expense coverage is established and paid out.

Forms for calculating preliminary expense coverage and salary levels (Living, Mobility and, if applicable, Family) can be found here:

Marie Sklodowska-Curie expenses H2020 WP 2014-2015 ITN and IF

Marie Sklodowska-Curie expenses H2020 WP 2016-2017 ITN and IF

Marie Sklodowska-Curie ersättningar H2020 WP 2018-2020 ITN och IF

By entering the expected EUR rate, the flat rates are converted into preliminary sums in SEK to be paid out to the fellow every month. NOTE: that balancing of completed transactions must be done against the flat rates at the end of the project, and that additional payment to the fellow may be necessary.    

Employment

There are two types of researchers within the MSC projects, “early stage researchers” and “experienced researchers”. There are certain limitations in regards to grantable period of employment. This is particularly important to keep in mind for “early-stage researchers”. They may be admitted as MSC doctorates, or alternately, be employed as MSC research assistants (not an employee of UU) – but EU grants cover up to a maximum of three years of employment. Possible employment periods within MSC projects can be found below:

Content owner: Patrik Armuand 01 april 2022