Research associations urge EU to preserve MSCA’s bottom-up approach

The Coimbra Group, together with EU-LIFE, YERUN, LERU, EUA, The Guild, CESAER and other European associations, has released a joint statement urging the European Commission to maintain the bottom-up, open structure of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme. This comes in response to proposals to introduce more top-down direction by focusing project calls on predefined topics for the 2026–2027 Work Programme. The signatories, which include 17 leading research and innovation organisations, emphasise that MSCA’s strength lies in its flexibility and support for all research fields, driven by scientific excellence and researchers’ initiative. They warn that imposing thematic restrictions would limit opportunities for early-career researchers and harm innovation.

The statement highlights the current success and popularity of MSCA, its substantial contributions to critical areas like artificial intelligence and quantum technologies, and notes that demand is rising while funding has hardly increased. The organisations call not only for the preservation of MSCA’s current model but also for a significant funding increase in the next EU Framework Programme (FP10) to support research careers and meet growing demand.

For more information:

Joint Statement Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: No to Directionality!