Medical diagnostics – Image by Michal Jarmoluk on Pixabay
(BRUSSELS) – The European Commission on Thursday topped up with an additional EUR 10 million the budget of the EU’s MSCA4Ukraine initiative, set up to support researchers forced to flee Ukraine.
The scheme, set up under Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) supports displaced researchers since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
The extra funding will enable at least 50 additional researchers, including doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers, who were forced to flee Ukraine to continue their work safely on research projects at universities, companies, research centres and other institutions based in the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe.
It will also allow the researchers to access training, skills and career development opportunities. Specific support will be available for organisations hosting the researchers and those fellows relocating with their families.
Since its launch, the MSCA4Ukraine fellowship scheme has supported 125 displaced researchers from Ukraine, being trained and working in 21 countries.
Selected researchers will be able to start a new project or continue their previous work to pursue their research in any subject of their choosing, including on issues directly linked to helping Ukraine and its recovery.
Current MSCA4Ukraine fellows are contributing to topics such as investigating war crimes in Ukraine or addressing the mental healthcare needs of displaced Ukrainian women.
The next MSCA4Ukraine call is expected to be launched in May 2024, allowing selected researchers to start their fellowships by early 2025. The first step for researchers wishing to apply is to prepare an application together with their potential host organisation, who will then submit the proposal on the researcher’s behalf.
