University and research groups have urged the European Commission to preserve the bottom-up nature of the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), after a recent proposal to use the programme to target European Union political priorities.

Widely considered to be one of Horizon Europe¡¯s biggest successes, the MSCA supports training, career development and knowledge exchange among researchers. In a joint statement released on 24 June, the Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN), the Coimbra Group and the research institution alliance EU-LIFE said the initiative¡¯s ¡°non-prescriptive model¡± was central to its success.

The European Commission¡¯s proposal would see the introduction of targeted funding calls, as well as the use of ¡°top-up funding¡± from other areas of the successor to Horizon Europe, known as FP10, to fund researchers in ¡°strategic¡± areas. This new directionality ¡°would fundamentally alter the MSCA¡¯s well-proven model towards a more top-down structure¡±, the umbrella groups said in response.

¡°[MSCA] has enabled breakthroughs in strategic areas such as AI, quantum, health, and climate, often well before these areas were politically prioritised,¡± the groups said in a statement. ¡°The programme is already delivering on EU priorities without the need for top-down thematic focus. What it requires now is more support and funding, not redefinition.¡±

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¡°There is no need to put energy into changes and new features in a programme that everyone is happy with ¨C that is both popular and works well according to all stakeholders ¨C with one exception, the continued low success rates,¡± Coimbra Group director Emmanuelle Gardan said. ¡°In a nutshell, do not change a winning concept.¡±

Marta Agostinho, executive director of EU-LIFE, added: ¡°The MSCA is a gold standard because its bottom-up, non-prescriptive model gives researchers the conditions to drive innovation where it matters most.¡±

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Arguing that targeted funding calls would not help to close the skills gap in key sectors ¨C as skills shortages would likely have shifted by the time new talent could emerge ¨C the umbrella bodies said the proposal ¡°fundamentally misdiagnoses the core challenges¡±, adding: ¡°Europe suffers from persistent structural shortcomings in research careers, such as precarity, insufficient career progression pathways, limited mobility and lack of long-term investments in research.¡±

¡°We need to stop reacting to challenges when it is too late. We need strong, long-term strategies to support Europe¡¯s talent and research careers,¡± said Silvia G¨®mez Recio, secretary general of YERUN.

The European research sector has expressed alarm about the possible increase of directionality in FP10, with the suggestion that it could be folded into a broader ¡°competitiveness fund¡± the cause of particular concern before commission president Ursula von der Leyen¡¯s recent conformation that it would remain a self-standing programme.

However, the framework programme will still be ¡°tightly connected¡± to the proposed competitiveness fund, said von der Leyen, prompting the League of European Research Universities (Leru) and the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities to call for ¡°clarity on what this connection entails and how it will be implemented¡±.

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emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com