Funding news digest ·
Research Funding News for Doctoral and Early-Career Researchers
This digest gathers notable announcements from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, spanning milestone celebrations, funding increases, Nobel Prize connections, and new publications relevant to doctoral and early-career researchers.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions · 21 October 2026
Interactive publication featuring over 100 success stories and testimonials
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions has released an interactive publication showcasing more than 100 success stories and testimonials from funded researchers. Readers can browse by country or institution, making it a useful resource for doctoral candidates curious about how past fellows have benefited from the programme.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions · 20 October 2026
Science without borders: the lasting legacy of Marie Skłodowska-Curie
An article published via Horizon Magazine traces three decades of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, which have supported over 150,000 researchers since 1996, including 25 Nobel laureates. The programme has grown from funding around 800 researchers per year to approximately 8,000 annually, with companies making up nearly half of participating organisations. For early-career researchers, this piece illustrates the programme's scale and its bridging role between academia, industry, and international collaboration.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions · 6 October 2026
Nobel Prizes in Medicine and Physics awarded to former MSCA fellow and supervisor
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Georg Nagel, a former Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellow, for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, while the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics went to Francis Halzen, who supervised an MSCA-funded project on neutrino astronomy. These awards underscore the long-term impact that Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions funding can have on research careers, offering a compelling case for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers considering the programme.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions · 30 September 2026
Over €210 million boost for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions to support more researchers in Europe
The European Commission has announced an additional 210 million euro top-up for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, targeting both Postdoctoral Fellowships and Doctoral Networks. The increase responds to record demand; the 2026 Postdoctoral Fellowships call attracted 21,627 applications, the highest ever for any EU research funding action in over 40 years. With more than 1.3 billion euro foreseen for the programme in 2027, this boost is directly relevant to doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers planning upcoming applications.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions · 25 September 2026
Cancer research in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions has published a document highlighting cancer research funded through the programme under its 2021 to 2027 budget of 6.6 billion euro. Because the programme supports bottom-up, researcher-driven projects across all fields, this resource may be especially useful for doctoral and early-career researchers working in oncology or related disciplines who want to see how their area fits within the funding landscape.