Support to the Marie Curie Alumni Association

Expected Outcome: This coordination and support action is expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

• A well-functioning MCAA, providing useful services to its members;
• Relevant policy feedback to the European Commission;
• An expanded network of MSCA alumni;
• Improved networking and cooperation among MSCA alumni;
• Improved visibility, sustainability, reach, relevance and impact of the MSCA.

Expected Impact:

• Increase the impact of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions through greater networking and cooperation between MSCA fellows (current and past);
• Promote the outreach and visibility of the MSCA at European and Global level;
• Promote Europe as an excellent research destination;
• Enhance the policy feedback to the European Commission on the MSCA and EU policies more broadly.

Scope:

This grant will be awarded without a call for proposals according to Article 195(e) of the Financial Regulation and Article 24(3)(b) of the Horizon Europe Regulation. The use of a grant to identified beneficiary is justified by the particular role and purpose of the MCAA, its unique nature and the fact that the association gathers around 20.000 MSCA alumni.

This action should support the MCAA in achieving the following objectives:

• Supporting the functioning of the MCAA, foster its expansion and growth on the European and international stage;
• Facilitating professional networking and career development of former and current MSCA fellows;
• Encouraging networking and cooperation among members from different countries, sectors of the economy and across scientific disciplines;
• Enabling alumni to act as MSCA ambassadors and promoters within the global research and innovation community, but also for the European Commission and EU Delegations throughout the world;
• Provide feedback to the European Commission on the MSCA to constantly improve its success, relevance and impact; and provide feedback on relevant EU policies.

At least 30% and no more than 50% of the maximum grant amount must be allocated to individual members of the MCAA as well as Working Groups and Chapters for their activities including travel, development and production of media materials related to the MCAA.

Eligible activities under this grant include inter alia:

• Organisation of physical and virtual MCAA governance body meetings according to the need of the MCAA;
• Organisation of General Assembly meetings of the MCAA and annual MCAA Conference;
• Support for Alumni, Chapters and Working groups;
• Maintenance and continuous development of the MCAA’s IT infrastructure and website, including the membership database;
• Data collection and provision of structured feedback on the MSCA, including online surveys, in agreement with the Commission, to obtain feedback on EU policy topics, on the MSCA, on the development of the network or any other topic of interest to both parties.

The following deliverables will have to be submitted:

• Yearly work plans on the functioning and growth of the MCAA submitted at month 6 and updated at month 18;
• A long-term plan for the evolution of the MCAA submitted at month 6, and updated at month 18;
• A communication plan to be submitted 6 months after the beginning of the grant;
• A progress report at month 6 and month 18.

The expected duration of the action is 36 months.

The evaluation committee will be composed fully by representatives of EU institutions. The evaluation committee can be assisted by external experts if required.

The general conditions, including admissibility conditions, eligibility conditions, award criteria, evaluation and award procedure, legal and financial set-up for grants, financial and operational capacity and exclusion, and procedure are provided in parts A to G of the General Annexes.

Indicative timetable: second quarter 2024