RESEARCH SERVICES

European Team, University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD

Marie Skłodowska-Curie 2019 Individual Fellowships (IFs)

European Fellowships (EFs): Oxford Application Guidelines

Research Services deadline: 28 August 2019

EC call deadline: 11 September 2019, 4pm UK time

Your proposed host Department/Faculty will have its own deadline for approving your application.
Please ensure that you know what this is as it may be some days, even weeks, before the Research
Services deadline.

In Horizon 2020 there are two types of MSCA Individual Fellowships

- European Fellowships (EFs): for post-doctoral researchers of any nationality moving to a European
country or between European countries.

- Global Fellowships (GFs): for European post-doctoral researchers (or researchers with at least five full-
time years’ continuous research activity in Europe) to undertake a two to three year research project
starting with a 12-24 month period in a non-European country, and ending with a mandatory one year
return phase in Europe

For information on Global Fellowships please see MSCA GF 2019: Application Guidelines.

Different approvals are required for European and Global Fellowship applications at Oxford. Applicants and
Departments must therefore ensure that they follow the correct factsheet.

The remainder of this guide is NOT relevant for Global Fellowship applicants.

This Factsheet provides basic information about the 2019 Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA)
European Fellowships and details of the application process at the University of Oxford.

The Factsheet does NOT replace official European Commission (EC) / MSCA guidance documents.
Applicants are strongly advised to read the 2018-20 MSCA Work Programme and the 2019 IF Guide for
Applicants available from the EC’s Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/msca-if-
2019
The MSCA guide for applications is a particularly useful document: it contains detailed guidance on how to
complete the application template documents.

Oxford applicants to the 2019 IF call should use this information in conjunction with our other Factsheet on
the 2019 IF call, available from the Gateway to Europe webpages
http://www.europegateway.ox.ac.uk/horizon-2020-funding MSCA EF 2019: Proposal Writing

All factsheets are for the use of Oxford applicants only.

Departments/Faculties should use the X5 guide to costing MSCA EFs also available from the Gateway to
Europe site http://www.europegateway.ox.ac.uk/horizon-2020-funding/x5.

Tel: +44 (0)1865 289842 | Fax: +44 (0) 1865 289801

Email: [email protected] | Web: http://www.europegateway.ox.ac.uk/
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EUROPEAN FELLOWSHIPS (EFs)

This is a very competitive call: Only the best candidates with the best projects described through the best
applications will be funded. Proposals are joint submissions between the Fellow and his/her host
Department/supervisor. Departments should agree to support an application only if they are committed to
supporting the fellow through the application process.

The Work Programme emphasises skills acquisition, two-way knowledge exchange and career development
as key objectives of the fellowship. Proposals must therefore address planned training as well as research
objectives. Applicants and their supervisors should read the introductory pages of the Guide for Applicants
to ensure that they understand what is expected from an excellent application.

Anything short of excellence in all evaluation criteria will not succeed.

European Fellowships can include secondments to other institutions in Europe where these will enhance
the impact/implementation of the research project / personal development of the Fellow.
Departments/Faculties will want to be clear that arrangements for any secondments (including any financial
issues) are understood by all concerned at application stage.

1. RESEARCH TOPIC, DURATION AND START DATES

All Marie Curie fellowships have a bottom-up approach, i.e. research fields are chosen freely by the
applicants. All research disciplines offered at Oxford are eligible for funding, including Social Sciences,
Humanities and medical (clinical and pre-clinical) disciplines.

European Fellowships must be for a minimum of twelve and a maximum of 24 months.

2019 Fellowship start dates will usually be between March 2020 and September 2021.

2. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Most applications will be to one of eight scientific areas depending on proposal topic best fit. These are listed
in the Guide for Applicants. There is also a Career Restart panel (EF-CAR) and a Reintegration Panel (EF-
RI). Where an applicant is eligible to submit to both a standard panel and to either the CAR or the RI it is for
the applicant to decide which option to follow.

Note: Oxford candidates are not eligible to apply to the EF-SE panel (reserved for non-academic host
institutions only).

Applicants can be of any nationality and age. On the call deadline (11 September 2019) all applicants must
both be an “experienced researcher”, and comply with MSCA mobility rules as follows.

Evidence of eligibility will be required if the application is successful.

Standard EF Career Restart Reintegration

Applicants must on 11 September 2019 either be in possession of a doctoral degree (irrespective
of the time taken to acquire it) or have completed at least 4 years of research experience full-time
Experienced equivalent from the date they obtained the degree which would formally entitle them to embark on a
Researcher doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the UK (irrespective of
whether or not a doctorate was ever envisaged). In most cases this would be from the date on
which applicants obtained their Master’s degree.
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Standard EF Career Restart Reintegration

Applicants must NOT have
resided or carried out their main Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main
Mobility
activity in the UK for a total of activity in the UK for a total of more than 36 months in the five
Rule
more than 12 months in the three years ending 11 September 2019
years ending 11 September 2019
Applicants must have been Applicants must be a national of
inactive in research for a an EU Member State (MS) or
continuous 12 month Associated Country (AC), or have
period in the 18 months been full time research active in a
immediately prior to MS or AC for at least five
11 September 2019 consecutive years in the past

Applicants must move / have

moved from a non-European
country to the country of the host
organisation

3. BUDGET

The budget for a Fellowship is made up of a number of monthly allowances. All rates are prescribed by the
EC in Euros (as defined in the 2018/20 MSCA Work Programme).

Living Allowance Mobility Family allowance Contribution to Contribution to

(per month) Allowance (per month) research, training and management
(per month) networking activity and overheads
€6822.24 €600 €500 €800 €650
Rate payable to all Rate payable to all Paid only to eligible Paid per researcher month
fellows hosted in the UK fellows fellows*
These allowances are paid to the fellow – less employer costs such as Paid to the host Paid to the host
employer national insurance – and are subject to employee tax. Department for use for Department/
Payment is made in UK sterling through payroll. the fellowship Faculty

*Family allowance: paid to researchers who, on 11 September 2019 are married, or in a relationship with equivalent
legal status to marriage (according to UK law or legislation applicable to their nationality), and/or who have dependent
children. Family members do not have to move with the researcher.

Note: The funding level of the fellowship will be calculated from the information provided in the application.
Evidence of eligibility for the family allowance is mandatory if the application is successful.

4. NOTES

Part-time work: Fellows can work part-time on their fellowship either to pursue supplementary activities such
as creating a company, or for personal / family reasons. Any part time working is agreed at award stage or
during the project (applications must be for full-time working). All part time working must be agreed by MSCA
and by the Oxford Department and the fellowship supervisor. All Fellows must spend at least 50% of their
working time on the MSCA fellowship. Part-time fellowships will take longer to complete than full-time
fellowships as the total number of full time equivalent months spent on the fellowships must equal the number
of months committed to in the application.

Eg. A 24 month fellowship worked full time = 2 years duration

The same 24 month fellowship worked 50% part time = 4 years duration
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Secondments: Researchers can include secondments outside their host institution during the period of their
fellowship. Secondments must take place in Europe. For a fellowship of 18 months or less, total secondment
time must not exceed three months. For a fellowship of more than 18 months, total secondment time cannot
exceed six months. Secondment time can be a single period or be divided into shorter periods. Secondments
must be agreed with the Oxford host Department and fellowship supervisor and must significantly add to the
impact of the fellowship. Note that for European Fellowships letters of support from secondment hosts are
NOT required.

Special needs allowance: this is a new allowance available to host institutions. Institutions can apply for up
to €60,000 per researcher towards expenses incurred to facilitate the participation of fellows with long-term
physical, mental, intellectual or sensory support requirements. The allowance can be used to cover, for
example, the costs of assistance by third persons or to adapt the work environment.

BREXIT

The date by which the UK will leave the European Union (EU) is now 31 October 2019. The UK is a Member
State of the EU until the date on which the UK leaves the EU. Institutions in EU Member States are eligible
to apply to all calls in Horizon 2020 while their country is a Member State, including MSCA Individual
Fellowships.

If the UK leaves the EU with a negotiated “deal Brexit” before 31 October 2019, the terms of the
Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK will come into force. Under these terms UK institutions
will continue to be eligible to apply to all funding calls to the end of Horizon 2020 (including MSCA calls).
Awards will be funded to the end of projects regardless of when they start or finish.

5. FURTHER INFORMATION AND SUPPORT

Official Advice
 All official call documents, including the Work Programme and the Guide for Applicants are on the
EC’s Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal and can be found on this page:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/msca-if-
2019

The Work Programme and Guide for Applicants include guidance on funding, eligibility, structuring and
presenting your application, and on the evaluation process.

General Advice
The UK National Contact Point for Marie Curie Actions regularly provides general information with hints
and tips for proposal writing and FAQs as well as advice on logistical aspects (taxation, work permits etc.)
for researchers coming to the UK. They also run information and proposal writing events.

Ethics Advice
 The Central University Research Ethics Committee (CUREC) is responsible for the University’s ethical
review process. Their website provides information on how to apply for ethical review, training
opportunities, FAQs, and who the best contacts are for different research areas.

For questions regarding your Marie Curie fellowship application, please contact the Research Services
European Team ([email protected]) always quoting the acronym of your application.
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6. APPLICATION PROCESS AT OXFORD

Researchers and supervisors must ensure that both their host department administration and the European
Team in Research Services are aware of their application. All applications MUST be approved by
Research Services before being submitted.

In order to approve the proposal, Departments/Faculties should email the Research Services European
team ([email protected]) as soon as possible, and no later than 28 August 2019 with the
subject line: “EF Application – Project acronym” with the following template information
 Acronym of the proposal
 Name of researcher, name of supervisor at Oxford, and Oxford Department/Faculty
 Name of organisation hosting the secondment (where relevant) plus express Department/Faculty
confirmation that the secondment host-organisation has agreed (at an appropriate level) to host
the secondment and that any financial basis for the secondment has been discussed and agreed
 Confirmation that access to the application has been given to [email protected] on
the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal
 Confirmation that Part A of the application has been completed on the Funding and Tender
Opportunities Portal

 Notification that an X5 costing for the fellowship is in the Workflow

The European Team will email the applicant, the supervisor and the host Department when the application
is approved. The application can then be submitted by either the supervisor or the applicant.

Researchers and supervisors can make changes to the scientific part of the proposal (Part B) as many times
as necessary up to the EC call deadline (subject to host Department approval processes).

Note that Research Services will NOT submit the application as we have no way of knowing when the final
version of Part B has been uploaded.

The EC submission deadline is absolute.

Failure to submit by the deadline, for whatever reason (including technical issues) will
mean that your application will not be evaluated.

© Research Services, University of Oxford 2019 Last updated: 03/05/2019

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ANNEX I: SUBMISSION

Proposals must be submitted electronically on the European Commission’s Funding and Tender
Opportunities Portal via an ECAS account. Submission is from the IF page of the Funding and Tender
Opportunities Portal.

Ensure that you select the correct type of European Fellowship: Standard (EF-ST); Career Restart (EF-CAR),
or Reintegration (EF-RI) when you chose “Start Submission”. This cannot be changed later and if you make
a mistake you will need to start your application process again. Remember that Oxford applicants CANNOT
submit to the Society and Enterprise (EF-SE) panel.

The application should be registered and completed by the researcher and/or supervisor.

1. ECAS ACCOUNT
If you do not already have an ECAS account you will need to create one: When you click SUBMISSON
you will be prompted to login. The username and password you create here will be the ones you will use
for your application and throughout the life of your project should you be successful

2. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION SYSTEM

Once you have an ECAS username and password
 Select the correct scheme and start submission
 Enter your ECAS username and password (if you are not already logged onto ECAS)
 Follow the screenshots below
 There are several sections of the application, all of which must be completed

The Oxford PIC number is: 999984350

The Oxford Short name is: UOXF

The Acronym can be changed later.

The short summary becomes the abstract in

the main part of the application. The text can be
changed then and there is no need to fine-tune
your wording at this stage. You must however
enter something here to proceed with
registration.

Select the scientific panel appropriate to your

project.

Click next, then read and accept the conditions

of your application
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In this section
1. Give access to your supervisor to the
application using the + button. Chose the
co-ordinator contact (full access) option.

2. Give access to Research Services to

the application using the + button: the
details to use are ‘Gill Wells,’,
Email: [email protected]. Use the
co-ordinator contact (full access) option: and
the project role of “contact”

3. Give access to your host Department’s

research administrator – use the co-ordinator
contact (full access) option, and the project
role of “contact”

4. If necessary, change your role to

Researcher using the pencil icon against
your name.

Complete the administrative forms by

clicking on ‘edit forms’. Depending on your
browser you may first need to enable
javascript. See Annex II below for guidance
on completing these forms

Download the mandatory templates for Part

B (scientific proposal) of your application
here

Upload both parts of your completed Part B

here.

Submit Section

You must press ‘submit’ in order for your proposal to enter the evaluation system for the call.
When you press ‘submit’ the system will initiate the submission process and tell you if any sections are incomplete: it
cannot however tell you whether you have completed the sections correctly.
If you do not complete the submission process before the 4pm (UK time) deadline on 11 September 2019, your
application will NOT have been sent/received.

You may press ‘submit’ as often as you like up until the deadline – note that if you upload a new version of either section
of Part B you have to press submit after uploading. The system will always save the most recent changes and most
recently uploaded files (Part B) by overwriting any previous information when you press submit.

We recommend that you submit your final version several hours, if not days, before the deadline. The Funding
and Tender Opportunities Portal can slow down significantly close to major deadlines such as this one. Before
submission, however, you must ensure that you have official approval from both your Department/Faculty and
Research Services.
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ANNEX II - APPLICATION
The application is made up of the Administrative Forms (Part A) and the proposal (Part B – two documents).
Please refer to the MSCA Guide for Applicants as this includes detailed information on how to complete the application.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/msca-if-2019

Part A
Part A consists of pages that need to be completed by the researcher and/or host Department/Faculty. Ensure that you
click ‘save form’ at the end of each session in which you add or change information - clicking ‘validate’ will NOT save
changes. Key notes for specific pages follow:

Page 2-3: General Information about the proposed project: to be completed by the applicant.

Page 4: Declarations: to be completed by the Department/Faculty.

- Tick all boxes for questions 1 to 4.

Page 7: Add details of other University departments participating in the proposal, if appropriate.

Page 9: University degree refers to the degree that formally entitled you to start a PhD. In the UK this would usually be
a Master’s degree.

Also on Page 9: “Full time postgraduate research experience” is the time you have spent in research since achieving
the degree that entitled you to begin your PhD and includes the time spent on PhD studies. Please do not include
dates/details of holidays.

Page 10: Please ensure you use the Oxford University email address for the supervisor (not a college or personal
email). This field is auto-populated from Step 4 of the submission process – so the email address may need changing
there.

Page 11: Budget: This is generated automatically depending on the length of the proposed fellowship (see page 2 of
the application form). The figures generated are the budget for the entire fellowship. Please ensure that you tick the
family allowance box at the top of the table if this is applicable (for explanation, see budget section of factsheet above).

Page 12-13: Ethics table. This must be completed, even if there are no ethics issues associated with your application.
It is important that you and your supervisor understand the EC perspective on ethics. If you tick Yes for any question in
the ethics table, you will need to complete an ethics self-assessment in Part B (Document 2) of your application. For
guidance on ethics issues click on the “How to complete your ethics self-assessment” link on Page 13 – or at the
following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/ethics/h2020_hi_ethics-self-assess_en.pdf
Note that ethics approvals for your project do not need to be in place at application stage. You need to demonstrate that
you know what ethics issues are connected with your project, and that you know how to obtain the necessary approvals
should your project be awarded. Your host department will advise on local ethics approval requirements and processes.

Page 16: Please make an informed decision as to whether or not to participate in the Research Open Data Pilot in
Horizon 2020. This is not mandatory. If you do not want to participate in the pilot ensure that “No” is selected. For
information on the Open data pilot please follow the links on page 15 of the application.

You can validate Part A at any stage. Validation will show you where essential information is missing – obviously it
cannot tell you whether information in the forms is correct.

Part B
You must use the template forms (Word format) available from the on-line application process.

There are two forms. You must complete and upload both documents as separate PDF files. You must comply with the
formatting criteria (font size, page limits, margin size etc.) specified in the Guide for Applicants and on the application
template: failure to do so may make your proposal ineligible.

Full instructions are provided on the Part B template to help applicants. Please make sure that you answer all the
questions in full.
Please see also the Oxford University factsheet available from the Gateway to Europe website:
MSCA IF 2019: Proposal writing.
(Note that this document is for applicants to Oxford only. You may therefore need to request it from your supervisor or
fellowship host Department).