Members access

Home >  x >  x

FP7 Marie Curie Actions and the cofinancing principle

The new Marie Curie Actions will be funded under the Framework Programme 7 (FP7) Specific Programme 'People'. 1 - What Marie Curie Actions are proposed under FP7?

There are four Marie Curie activity lines, each implemented through at least one Marie Curie Action.

-The initial training of researchers
-The life-long training and career development of experienced researchers
-Industry-academia partnerships and pathways
- The international dimension

Please note that in order to be eligible, researchers must fulfil certain requirements in terms of minimum or maximum number of years' of research experience (full-time equivalent) and transnational mobility. Eligibility is measured at the deadline for applications (individual applications) or at the time of appointment (for Industry Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) and Initial Training Networks (ITNs)). For the IAPP and the ITNs, institutions should define their needs in terms of number of researchers' and experience, and are then responsible for ensuring that appointed researchers meet the relevant eligibility criteria.

The distinction is made between Experienced Researchers (ER) and Early Stage Researchers (ESR). Early Stage Researchers (ESR) are defined as those with less than 4 years full-time research experience after their first degree. Experienced Researchers (ER) are defined as those who have a PhD or more than 4 years full-time research experience.

2 - How do the FP7 Marie Curie Actions differ from FP6 Marie Curie Actions?

The budget has increased from 1.8bn€ under FP6 (4 year programme) to 4.7bn€ under FP7 (7 year programme). There is much continuity as the Marie Curie actions encountered a real success among the researchers.

Even if the budget increased there light be a great number of quality projects that cannot be funded. Therefore the European Commission decided to experiment a new mechanism : co-financing.