MSCA at 30: Research mobility & bridging gaps across Europe.
May 21 All day
Thirty years of MSCA Programme is more than an anniversary. It’s a chance to look honestly at what mobility has enabled across Europe, what still blocks talent circulation, and how MSCA can better help close gaps between research and innovation ecosystems as the FP10 debate approaches. This event is designed as a working conversation participatory, practical, and built around real experience rather than ceremony. REGISTER NOW nad join us on 21 May in Brussels!
The event is designed for researchers at all career stages, research managers, institutional representatives and policy stakeholders who are actively engaged in shaping or supporting research careers and international collaboration.
It will be relevant for those working on research policy, shaping the current implementation as well as future of the MSCA programme, as well for all those interested to apply for MSCA, hosting fellows, building consortia, etc. By combining high-level policy perspectives with practical, experience-based discussions and structured networking formats, the event offers a rare opportunity to move beyond general narratives and engage directly with peers, decision-makers and potential partners. Participants will gain concrete insights, identify collaboration opportunities and contribute to a forward-looking discussion on how MSCA can more effectively support talent circulation, institutional development and stronger research ecosystems across Europe.
By its design, the event is for people who want to move beyond talking about “success stories” and get into the practicalities: mobility, institutional barriers, pathways for returning home, building capacity in Central European countries, and how MSCA instruments can do even more to help shape a more coherent European Research Area.
Thematic sessions and more!
- Wall of Opportunities: Interactive networking space. An opening networking format designed to help participants quickly identify potential partners, host institutions, secondment opportunities and contacts for further cooperation.
- 30 Years of MSCA: What Built Europe’s Talent Programme and what’s next for FP10. An opening session devoted to the achievements of MSCA and the future of the programme in the context of the next European framework.
Special Guest: Mr Manuel ALEXIO, Member of the Cabinet, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, European Commission
- Making MSCA works: career paths, institutions, and cross-border reality. A panel on how MSCA shapes careers, mobility, working conditions and the development of cooperation across different research ecosystems in Europe in practice.ędzy różnymi ekosystemami badawczymi w Europie.
Moderator: Dr Tomasz POPRAWKA, Director of PolSCA PAS Office Brussels
Guests: Claire MOREL – Head of Unit, DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), European Commission; Serena GARGIULO, PhD – Vice Chair of the MCAA Benelux Chapter, Belgium; Béla FISER, PhD – Chair of the MCAA Hungary Chapter, University of Miskolc, Hungary; Michael NONES, PHD – Board Member of the MCAA Poland Chapter, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
- Talent circulation, capacity building, research bridges: closing gaps with MSCA portfolio. An interactive fishbowl discussion on how mobility and MSCA instruments can strengthen institutional capacity and reduce inequalities within the European Research Area.
Moderator: Dr Shaghayegh KESHANIDOKHT, Board Member of the MCAA Chapter Benelux
Guests: Maria GÓRNA, PhD – University of Warsaw, Poland; Valentina VIGNALI, PhD – University Medical Centre Utrecht, Netherlands
- NAWA–MSCA Network: A practical model for return, reintegration and career support. A short session presenting a practical model of support for researchers at the stages of application, mobility, return and reintegration.
Guest: Ms Bogna HRYNISZYN, Excellence in Science Department PAS, NAWA-MSCA Network Central Poland - MSCA Deep Dives: Focused Roundtables. Blok A block of parallel, moderated discussions devoted to the most important challenges related to careers, mobility and institutional capacity for implementing MSCA:
PhD/ Postdoc careers & brain circulation: MSCA as a talent-attracting platform, a discussion on how MSCA supports career development, mobility decisions, and pathways for return and talent retention.
Moderator: Isabel HERZHOFF KOWI Office, Brussels
Intersectoral Mobility & Non-Academic Pathways: From Secondments to Sustainable Careers a session on cooperation with the non-academic sector, intersectoral mobility and long-term career pathways beyond the traditional academic model.
Moderator: Dunja HOFMANN KOWI Office, Brussels
Research Management, HR & Institutional Capacity: Enabling MSCA Across Diverse Systems, a discussion on how administrative structures, HR and institutional support shape the effective implementation and long-term sustainability of MSCA actions.
Moderator: Łukasz PIECZONKA, PolSCA PAS, Brussels
- MSCA Matchmaking Zones. Find Your Partner! A networking block designed around concrete partnership, hosting and implementation support needs for future MSCA actions:
PhD & Postdocs marketplace (researchers seeking hosts, institutions offering positions). A session for those looking for hosts, candidates and cooperation opportunities around individual projects and postdoctoral pathways.
Moderator: Nanditha K. NARAYANAN, KU Leuven & MCAA Chapter Benelux
Institutional partnerships (researchers & institutions seeking partners to build consortia). A session focused on building partnerships for Doctoral Networks, Staff Exchanges and other joint institutional actions.
Moderator: Linda VALKO NethER Office in Brussels
Implementation Support (connecting researchers with RMAs, EURAXESS advisors). A session devoted to practical support regarding MSCA rules, proposal preparation and project management.
Moderator: Beatrix BORZA MSCA NCP, Hungary
- MSCA stories that teach: Practical lessons from the field is a series of short presentations highlighting practical lessons drawn from participation in MSCA and their broader significance for institutions and the system.
- From Practice to Policy. From Today’s Insights to Tomorrow’s MSCA. A special closing session that interactively gathers conclusions from the whole day and connects participants’ experience with the debate on the future of MSCA and FP10.
Specisl Guest: Ms Eszter LAKOS, Member of the European Parliament, EPP/ITRE [tbc] - Networking receptionas the final part of the event, intended for more informal conversations and for continuing the contacts established throughout the day!
Event agenda HERE
REGISTRATION
Registration is now open for all. Please click the link below. The form remains open till 11 May 2026.
In the registration form, participants may also indicate their interest in contributing individually to selected parallel sessions, either within the discussion formats or the networking sessions. These expressions of interest will be reviewed by the organisers individually during the registration confirmation process.
Organisers
Event organised in collaboration with the Polish Academy of Sciences (PolSCA PAS Office in Brussels and Excellence in Science Department of the PAS in Warsaw – NAWA-MSCA Contact Point for Central Poland) and the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) Chapters Benelux, Hungary and Poland. Local partners of the event in Brussels include the liaison offices: KOWI (Germany), Neth-ER (Netherlands) and NRDIO (Hungary).
Alongside our special guests, representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as the experts already mentioned, the event will also bring together distinguished members of the European research and institutional community and others who are actively contributing to the organisation of this special event.
Such a broad and international group of guests gives the event a distinctive profile and confirms that it will be one of the more important meetings devoted to the future of MSCA actions, research mobility and research cooperation in Europe!
