The European Commission has announced the closure and submission figures for the 2026 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships call, which closed on 9 September 2026 with a record-breaking 21,627 proposals submitted.
This is the highest number of applications ever received for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships and the highest number of proposals submitted to any single funding action in over 40 years of EU research and innovation framework programmes. The figure represents a 26.7% increase compared with the 2025 call, which attracted 17,066 applications.
Of the proposals submitted, 20,131 (93.1%) were for European Fellowships and 1,496 (6.9%) for Global Fellowships. The international reach of the call remains significant: proposals are coordinated by organisations in 43 EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe, while Global Fellowship applicants proposed outgoing research phases in 58 countries worldwide not associated to Horizon Europe.
The 2026 call has an indicative budget of €399.05 million and is expected to fund around 1,600 projects. Applicants are expected to be informed of the results in mid-February 2027, with the first funded projects expected to start from April 2027.
The record number of applications underlines the strong global interest in MSCA opportunities for researcher mobility, training, career development and international research cooperation.
More information and interactive charts:
https://link.europa.eu/BgYPHM
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