Report on synergies to fuel researchers careers now available

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) is a European Union programme promoting the mobility and career development for researchers.

COFUND - Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions - offers additional funding for new or existing regional, national and international programmes to provide an international and intersectoral dimension to research training and career development. Doctoral programmes as well as fellowship programmes for experienced researchers can be supported.

The MSCA 2015 COFUND conference has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant number 692700.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) conference

The Luxembourg National Research Fund has published the report of the 2015 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) conference. This includes video and audio recordings, interviews with the keynote speakers and the conference conclusions and recommendations. The fund organised the event on 10 December 2015.

During the conference, three researchers receivced awards from the co-funding of regional, national and international programmes (COFUND). The ceremony featured Marc Hansen, Minister for higher education and research in Luxembourg, and Martine Reicherts, Director-General for education and culture at the European Commission.

Read the full MSCA conference report

Videos from the conference

• keynote by astronaut and former French Minister Claudie Haigneré
• awards ceremony 

Videos with the award winners

• Adrien Doherty - senior research fellow at the University of Oxford
• David Hoey - associate professor in biomedical engineering at the Trinity College Dublin of the University of Dublin
• Julien Meyer - leading expert for whistled languages at the CNRS GIPSA laboratory in Grenoble, France

Results of the conference

The conference demonstrated that the COFUND scheme has

• successfully supported the development of new models of research and training
• fostered institutional corporate identities and created a COFUND community
• extended the visibility of co-funded programmes and institutions

To achieve an even larger multiplying effect in the future, it will be essential for COFUND to provide access to good practice examples, especially for countries, regions, sectors or research fields less represented in the programme.

To support the research policy goals of the European research area, COFUND needs to focus on regional research and innovation capacity building by establishing links between the smart specialisation strategy and Horizon 2020.

In response to complex societal needs and requirements, COFUND should support more trans-disciplinary research combining social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering to produce new knowledge and develop problem-solving technologies.

Related links

Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions

Co-funding of regional, national and international programmes (COFUND)