MSCA programme in HE

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fund excellent research and innovation and equip researchers at all stages of their career with new knowledge and skills, through mobility across borders and exposure to different sectors and disciplines. The MSCA help build Europe’s capacity for research and innovation by investing in the long-term careers of excellent researchers.

The MSCA also fund the development of excellent doctoral and postdoctoral training programmes and collaborative research projects worldwide. By doing so, they achieve a structuring impact on higher education institutions, research centres and non-academic organisations.

The MSCA promote excellence and set standards for high-quality researcher education and training in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers.

There are 5 types of MSCA targeting different objectives.

  • Doctoral Networks (DN)
    Supporting programmes to train doctoral candidates in academic and non-academic organisations.
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF)
    Supporting career perspectives and excellence of postdoctoral researchers.
  • Staff Exchanges (SE)
    Encouraging collaborations between organisations through staff exchanges.
  • COFUND
    Co-funding of regional, national and international programmes.
  • MSCA and Citizens
    Bringing research and researchers closer to the public at large.

More information on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions is available here.

MSCA Doctoral Networks (DN) Projects

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) projects

MSCA Staff Exchanges (SE) projects

PARADISE - Development of next generation pathways leading to just energy transition and industrial deep decarbonization

Specific programme: HORIZON-MSCA-2023-SE-01-01 - MSCA Staff Exchanges 2023
UPV/EHU Partner Status: Coordinator
UPV/EHU PI: Martin Olazar

Project start: 01/12/2024
Project end: 30/11/2028

Brief description: Foundation industries (cement, steel, glass, ammonia etc) are classified as hard-to-abate sectors due to the inherent high-temperature processes. Decarbonization of industry is technically possible through a combination of technical solutions, the optimum mix of which will vary widely between sectors and regions. Deep decarbonization technologies such as application of alternative carbon neutral fuels and carbon capture are essential to achieve the target of net zero by 2050 in the EU.

The project aims to evaluate, develop and demonstrate the advanced and emerging technologies for sustainable energy transition and industrial deep decarbonization. Firstly, the project attempts to remove the barrier associated with high operational and infrastructure costs incurred by the traditional carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology applying aqueous scrubbing. 

The project also evaluates and justifies the potential of a negative CO2 emission solution by combining CCUS with biomass derived carbon neutral fuels (BECCS). In addition, the project aims to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study on the application of ammonia in selected industrial processes as an alternative carbon neutral fuel to replace fossil fuels. 

The project attempts to apply a wide range of research methods at different scales from microscopic material design to laboratory scale testing and pilot scale trials, and finally to industrial scale deployments supported by the industrial partners. Multi-scale modellings such as reaction kinetics modelling, CFD modelling and process modelling will be performed for system optimization. Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment on carbon footprint of the full supply chain will be conducted for all three above-mentioned decarbonization pathways. Additionally, Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven approach will be used to predict the dynamic CO2 emissions from industrial sites under scenarios using different combinations of renewable fuels with CCUS.

MSCA COFUND projects

MSCA and Citizens projects