Secondments and Non-Academic Placements

MSCA- Postdoctoral Fellowships proposals may include an optional secondment during the fellowship and/or add an optional non-academic placement period, provided they are in-line with the project objectives and add significant value and/or impact to the fellowship.

Note: 50% of proposals that are requesting Non-Academic Placements or Secondments are declared as ineligible/inadmissible; results collected from the MSCA-PF-2021 call (Figure 1.)

Be aware, Secondments and Non-Academic Placements are different in nature and follow different set of rules. Secondment is a temporary transfer to another entity in any sector, anywhere in the world at any time during the action, typically to perform part of the research or to gain experience. Secondments do not have a separate budget. Non-academic placements also involve mobility to another entity, located in an EU member state or associated country, but can only take place to an organisation in the non-academic sector and after the end of the regular duration of the project. Non-academic placements have a dedicated budget. Both secondments and placements are expected to include supervision, to bring a clear added value to the research proposal, and should be covered by the employment contract with the beneficiary.

Secondments:

Researchers receiving a Postdoctoral Fellowship may opt to include a secondment phase, within the overall duration of their fellowship. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods.

• For European Postdoctoral Fellowships, secondments cannot exceed one third of the standard fellowship duration and should be in line with the project objectives, adding significant value and impact to the fellowship.
• For Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, optional secondments are permitted for up to one third of the outgoing phase. A maximum of three months can be spent at the start of the project at the beneficiary (or any other organisation mentioned in the description of the action), allowing the researcher to spend time there before going to the associated partner in the Third Country. Secondments cannot take place during the mandatory twelve-month return period to the host organisation in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Placements in the non-academic sector

Researchers may also opt for an additional period of up to six months to seek a placement at the end of the project to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

While this possibility is also available to fellows recruited in the non-academic sector, such a placement must be implemented at a different non-academic host organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country!

Short Visits

Note that secondments and non-academic placements are to be distinguished from short visits. Short visits imply mobility to another location outside the physical premises of the beneficiary, including internationally. However, the work done there continues to be supervised directly by the supervisor of the host beneficiary. Short visits can only represent a small part of the project duration and must not be encoded as participating organisations in the submission forms.

In the MSCA-PF proposal, the non-academic sector placement must be encoded in part A and described in part B. In Part B1 (under sub-criterion 1.3 and 3.1 & 3.2), the relevance and added value of the non-academic placement period will be assessed by the evaluators and may therefore impact the final score awarded to the proposal. 

Therefore, in the Part B1 you should consider the followings:

• Explain the value of the supervisor during the secondments and non-academic placement.
• Highlight inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary training during the placement or secondment and explained: i) why is it important (e.g. testing technical development during the fellowship), ii) when will it be planned and iii) what knowledge will be acquired.
• Explain the added-value for the project and for the career development of the researcher: Examples of added value could include that you will acquire management and leadership skills, which you may need in your non-academic future or as an independent and mature researcher (if you are considering spin-off of your future academic applicable results, etc.)

Note: There is no need for detailed work plan for the non-academic placement, but it must be mentioned in the Gantt chart and noted, where relevant, in the research work packages!

• A Gantt chart must be included in the proposal and should indicate the proposed Work Packages (WP), major deliverables, milestones, secondments, placements.

For non-academic placement host: Explain the integration into research team/environment, that you will have access to research/technical and administrative infrastructure and dedicated work place.

In Part B2, the non academic placement host must provide an up to date letter of commitment, to be submitted with the application, confirming their precise role and active participation in the proposal.

Overview of the Secondments and non-Academic Placements Rules are summarized in the Table 1.