EU Offers €22.5 Million to Attract Global Science Talent
Work News | New Stardom
© European Union, 2025. Photo: Fred Guerdin, EC Audiovisual Service. Released for information and education purposes.
The European Commission has launched a new €22.5 million funding call to draw top researchers from around the world to Europe, offering long-term postdoctoral positions as part of its pilot programme, Choose Europe for Science.
The initiative is part of the broader €500 million “Choose Europe: advance your research career in the EU” plan running from 2025 to 2027. The programme seeks to make European research careers more attractive to international scientists by providing multi-year employment opportunities and improved working conditions.
Under the scheme, universities and research organisations in the EU or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can apply for funding to host at least three postdoctoral researchers per project. Each position is supported for up to five years, with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) co-funding the initial two to three years and the host institution required to guarantee employment for the remainder.
The programme invites applications from researchers worldwide, regardless of nationality. Mobility rules require that candidates must not have resided or worked in the country of the recruiting organisation for more than 12 months in the three years preceding the deadline. Applicants must hold or have defended a doctoral degree and cannot already be permanently employed by the host institution.
The selection process will not only assess the quality of research proposals but also the commitment of host institutions to offer longer-term professional prospects to postdocs beyond the EU-funded period. The funding per project includes a fixed monthly allowance, set at a minimum of €6,700 per researcher for the first phase, as well as support for leave and special needs, if required.
Organisations can apply through the EU’s Funding and Tenders Opportunities Portal until 3 December 2025. Successful projects are expected to start posting open positions for researchers on EURAXESS, the EU’s research jobs portal, from the second half of 2026.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who formally launched the pilot at the Sorbonne in May, said, “We want the best and brightest to Choose Europe. Science remains the fuel of progress and growth for our societies. This is why Europe will always choose science.”
The initiative builds on the long-standing MSCA framework, which has supported over 145,000 researchers since 1996, and aims to help reverse the trend of talent leaving Europe for research careers elsewhere.
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