What is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions? The MSCA is part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research funding scheme and aims to support the career development and training of researchers – with a focus on innovation skills – in all scientific disciplines through international and intersectoral mobility.
There are actions for different levels of research experience from PhD student upwards. In particular, the MSCA Individual Fellowships are trans-national post-doctoral fellowships for the most promising experienced researchers. Therefore, if you are considering researching abroad take a look at this website.
Among the communication activities of my MSCA Global Individual Fellowship I intend to spread the word about the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, giving visibility to EU funding scheeme and presenting my project "CONSUMEHealth" to young researchers all over the world.
In the past weeks I have already been presenting and discussing the importance and challenge of applying for a MSCA in several events. First, on 3 May I was a speaker at the workshop “HORIZON 2020: MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE CALLS- FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP (IF)” organized by the University of Parma and the National contact point for Italy (APRE). During the event Angelo D’Agostino (APRE) explained the framework and the technicalities of all the forms of MSC actions and he gave informal tips on how to make your CV and application sharper.
Sogari presentation
Following this, I presented the poster of my project at the "FOOD INTEGRITY 2017 CONFERENCE – Assuring the integrity of the food chain: turning science into solution" in Parma. This event was an important two-day international conference which identifies and debates the latest issues affecting food fraud across Europe. Hosted by Barilla (chair Michele Suman) and the University of Parma with over 300 attendees and many keynote speakers among which Eric Marin (DG Sante), Barbara Gallani (EFSA), Chris Elliot (Queen’s University Belfast), Lynn Frewer (Newcastle University), Luca Govoni (ALMA) and many others. The event highlighted just how serious an issue like food fraud has become in the last years, but hopefully there are solutions… If you are interested in finding out more about the Foodintegrity project and getting involved, please visit https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/foodintegrity/index.cfm
Eric Marin (DG Sante) Chris Elliot (Queen’s University Belfast)
Moreover, on 11-12 May 2017, the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU hosted a high-level conference on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions: MSCA 2017 MOBILITY TAKES RESEARCHER FURTHER. The objectives of the event were to raise the visibility of MSCA throughout Europe (20th anniversary) and share good practices and encourage a debate on past and ongoing experiences.
Finally, I had the pleasure to meet and discuss with Klaus-Gunther Barthel, Head of Unit EU Research Executive Agency Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks, during the event "MSCA: boosting your career", hosted at the Campus of Science and Technology of the University of Parma (12 May 2017).
Klaus-Gunther Barthel