The call for co-financing of doctoral and postdoctoral programs, which was announced as part of the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions, is open until June 24, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) announced.

The Ministry of Education and Research said that it is the leading European Union (EU) program for funding doctoral and postdoctoral studies of researchers.

“The COFUND scheme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions aims to co-finance new or existing doctoral programmes and postdoctoral fellowship schemes in EU countries or countries associated with the Horizon Europe programme,” the statement said.

The COFUND action, as stated by the Ministry of Education, Science and Research, enables co-financing of doctoral programs, which offer researcher training activities aimed at developing and expanding the skills and competences of doctoral candidates, to result in the award of a doctoral degree.

They said that the COFUND action also enables co-financing of postdoctoral programs, which finance individual advanced research training for postdoctoral students and provide scholarships for career development.

“Programmes should offer training to develop key transferable skills and competencies common to all fields, encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and promote and reward the practice of open science,” the statement said.

The proposed programs, as stated by the Ministry, can encompass any research discipline (bottom-up approach).

They said that the focus could also be on disciplines that are linked to national or regional research and innovation strategies for smart specialization.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology stated that, in addition to mandatory international mobility, it is recommended that elements of intersectoral mobility and interdisciplinarity be included in the programs.

“Researchers should be free to choose their research topic and the appropriate hosting organization, according to their individual needs,” the statement said.

As stated, funded programs will also have to take into account important aspects such as open science, communication and dissemination of results, entrepreneurship, gender equality, ethics, high-quality supervision, and community engagement.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Research said that COFUND actions cover a fixed amount equivalent to the researcher’s minimum salary, a long-term leave allowance and a special needs allowance, if applicable.

The call, as they stated, is open until June 24th of this year.

“Candidates wishing to apply for doctoral and postdoctoral positions under the COFUND action should apply to projects funded through COFUND by searching for job openings advertised internationally, including on the EURAXESS portal (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs),” the statement said.

More details about the call itself and the application requirements can be found at the COFUND – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions link, through which the project application is submitted.

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