A primary focus of the scheme is the mobility of researchers, with two types of fellowships:
- European Postdoctoral Fellowships. These fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe or coming to Europe from another part of the world to pursue their research career. These fellowships take place in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and can last between 1 and 2 years. Researchers of any nationality can apply.
- Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. They fund the mobility of researchers outside Europe. The fellowship lasts between 2 to 3 years, of which the first 1 to 2 years will be spent in a non-associated Third Country, followed by a mandatory return phase of 1 year to an organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Only nationals or long-term residents of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can apply.
The United Kingdom is a Horizon Europe Associated Country.
Who can apply?
To be an eligible applicant for the scheme, a candidate must:
- have a PhD degree at the time of the deadline for applications. Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply.
- have a maximum of eight years of experience in research, from the date of the award of their PhD degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks will not count towards the above maximum, nor will years of experience in research in third countries, for nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to Europe.
- they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.
Expressions of interest
We invite potential applicants to the MSCA scheme who are interested in naming the University of Edinburgh Business School as their host to contact us.
Mentor
If you are interested in applying with us, you should first identify a suitable mentor within the Business School who will work with you on your application. The researchers below have indicated a particular interest in being open to requests for mentorship:
- Neil Pollock: I'm interested in digital research topics and especially the development and use of AI in organisations, and I'm currently working on the birth of the AI assurance industry.
- Ben Moews: I'm working on the domain-driven development and application of machine learning methods, with overlapping research interests in statistics and high-performance computing.
- Tong Wang: My research investigates digital platforms and Fintech, using game theory and machine learning techniques to understand their impact on the evolving digital economy.
- Zexun Chen: My research interests centre on AI applications in FinTech and Computational Social Science, particularly emphasising probabilistic machine learning and non-parametric Bayesian methods. Current work focuses on fairness in credit scoring, data-driven methods for option pricing, and the ethical use of AI within human mobility and urban planning.
- Aakil Caunhye: My research is on theory and applications of Mathematical Programming under uncertainty, and I am currently working on developing Stochastic Programming, Robust Optimization and Contextual Optimization models for Humanitarian Logistics.
- Douglas Alem: I'm interested in humanitarian logistics and operations, as well as problems related to the Sustainable Development Goals. I'm currently working on food aid supply chains.
- Fernando Moreira: My research interests encompass investigations into factors affecting banking stability, as well as the development and diverse applications of statistical methods for causal inference.
- Nader Azizi: I'm interested in topics related to optimisation under uncertain data and random disruption especially in logistics, transportation and supply chain networks, and the development of solution technique for such problems.
- Raffaella Calabrese: I work closely with financial institutions and regulators to propose analytical solutions to better measure the effects of climate change on credit risk and how to perform climate stress testing exercises.
- Galina Andreeva: I'm interested in AI and Big Data for financial inclusion and economic well-being. My research investigates fairness/algorithmic bias, advanced credit models, novel types of credit data and sustainability.
- Mustapha Douch: My research concentrates on applying advanced econometric models to micro and macro data, with thematic studies spanning international economics, policy uncertainty, climate change, and the implications of AI.
- Victor Medina-Olivares: I'm interested in probabilistic machine learning with a focus on real-world applications that support decision-making, such as credit risk, consumer behaviour, and quantitative marketing.
- Antonia Gieschen: My research can be described as computational social science; I’m especially interested in geospatial analysis and machine learning applications for financial wellbeing, healthy food environments and related consumer behaviour.
- Roberto Rossi: My research lies at the intersection of operations research, decision science, and artificial intelligence, with a methodological focus on stochastic programming, mathematical programming, and constraint programming, for solving complex decision-making problems under uncertainty, particularly in the area of inventory control.
Notification of interest
Once you have secured the support of a mentor, please email the UEBS Research Office to confirm your intention to apply at research@business-school.ed.ac.uk. The research office will be able to provide support for the submission of your application.
Timeline
MSCA call opens: 8 May 2025
Edinburgh Research Office proposal masterclass: 27 May 2025, sign-ups online.
Securing a UEBS mentor: 11 July 2025
UEBS internal deadline: 3 September 2025
By this date, you must submit your final documentation and confirm the final budget for your application to research@business-school.ed.ac.uk in order to receive approval to submit.
MSCA final deadline: 10 September 2025,5pm CEST
Please note that it is strongly recommended to submit prior to this deadline in order to reduce the impact of any last-minute issues.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the submission process, please contact research@business-school.ed.ac.uk for assistance.