By Muhammad Abdullah · Published 26 Oct 2026
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fund some of the best PhD positions in Europe — but their rules confuse even strong applicants. This guide explains the three things that decide most MSCA applications: the mobility rule, the secondment structure, and the salary system, using the MSCA positions covered in Parwaz's verified analyses (BEST, TERRA-MED, SPARK, TURBO-IMPACT, REGULAIRE and PRISM).
MSCA funds PhD positions through two different mechanisms, and your application strategy depends on which one you are facing. COFUND programmes (like BEST in Toulouse and TERRA-MED across France and Spain) recruit a cohort — 19 positions in BEST's first call, 33 in TERRA-MED — through a single programme call with a fixed project list, a shared timeline, and joint supervision built in. Doctoral Networks (like SPARK, TURBO-IMPACT and REGULAIRE) fund individual vacancies — one position, one supervisor, one project — each with its own deadline. In a COFUND call you compete for a place in a cohort; in a Doctoral Network you compete for a single job. Never apply to "the network" in general: apply to the exact vacancy or project, by its exact reference number.
Every MSCA position in this guide carries a mobility rule, and it ends more applications than any academic shortcoming. The standard form is: you must not have resided or carried out your main activity in the host country for more than 12 months in the 36 months (or, for some calls, three years) immediately before recruitment. The host country is what matters, not Europe in general — a year in France disqualifies you from BEST, a year in Portugal disqualifies you from REGULAIRE, but neither disqualifies you from a position hosted elsewhere. Check the rule for your own history before investing weeks in an application: count your months in the host country honestly, including study, work and internships. There are exceptions and extensions in some calls (for example, parental leave), but they must be documented, not assumed.
MSCA positions build mobility into the contract. BEST includes compulsory international mobility of up to 12 months with international co-supervision. TERRA-MED pairs every thesis with joint supervision across two regions plus a non-academic secondment. The TU/e SPARK position includes six months at the University of Navarra in Spain and three months at UltraFast Innovations GmbH in Germany. TURBO-IMPACT's secondments span Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Belgium. REGULAIRE requires relocation to Lisbon for at least the first year plus an international secondment. Your application should show appetite for this structure — why the secondments help your research, not just that you accept them. An application that reads as wanting a single-lab PhD will look like a poor fit for a programme designed around movement.
MSCA salaries look inconsistent across listings because they genuinely are different systems. COFUND programmes pay a local doctoral salary: BEST's own guide states approximately €2,050 net per month (€2,200 with family obligations) plus a €350 monthly travel and mobility allowance, while aggregator pages quote €2,800-€3,000 — trust the programme guide, not the aggregator. TERRA-MED's salary is quoted at roughly €2,400-€2,550 gross per month and varies by host institution. Doctoral Network positions in the Netherlands pay Dutch university scales: the TU/e SPARK position pays €3,204-€4,051 gross per month plus 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end bonus. The lesson is simple: never compare MSCA salaries across countries or programmes without checking whether the figure is net or gross, whether it includes allowances, and which host institution pays it. And never budget on an aggregator's figure when the programme's own guide gives a different one.
For a Doctoral Network vacancy, your application is a job application: match the project's exact skill mix (for example, SPARK's theory-fabrication-measurement combination, or TURBO-IMPACT's modelling-plus-texturing mix), name the supervisor's work, and explain why that project. For a COFUND cohort call, your application is a programme application: show fit with the programme's themes (BEST's health, global change and sustainable transitions; TERRA-MED's water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus), enthusiasm for co-supervision and mobility, and a project choice your background genuinely supports. In both cases, the most common weakness is genericity — an application that could be sent to any MSCA position will lose to one written for this position.
MSCA deadlines are vacancy-specific and often midday, not midnight: BEST closes 23 November 2026 at 12:00 Paris time; SPARK's TU/e vacancy closes 14 November 2026; TURBO-IMPACT DC9 closes 30 November 2026; REGULAIRE closes 25 November 2026; TERRA-MED closes 31 December 2026. Several networks advertise sibling vacancies with different deadlines in the same weeks — SPARK alone has positions closing from 10 November to 8 December 2026. Apply to the exact vacancy, confirm its exact deadline and time zone, and submit early: portal traffic on deadline day is a real risk, and some calls (like Humboldt's fellowship rounds, a related but separate scheme) close early on application caps.
Parwaz's verified per-position analyses cover each of these calls in full — including the exact mobility rule, salary figures, secondment structure and strengthening advice: BEST, TERRA-MED, SPARK (TU/e), TURBO-IMPACT DC9, REGULAIRE (Católica) and PRISM. Read the analysis for your target position before you apply.