MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships at Sorbonne Université and its Alliance partners - Call for applications

Paris, France

2026-04-24 (Europe/Paris)

The Alliance Sorbonne Université (ASU) welcomes applicants to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) call in the research units of Sorbonne Université and its partners (CNRS, Inserm, Inria, IRD, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Cnam and Université de technologie de Compiègne).

If you are a young researcher with high potential and ambition to advance research in fundamental or applied fields, you are invited to apply to this programmewith our acclaimed researchers for an opportunity to work on and develop your ideas in an exceptional research environment with the 1st ranked French university for Horizon Europe funding.

Offers from the ASU cover the following panels: Chemistry(CHE), Information Science and Engineering(ENG), Environment and Geosciences(ENV), Life Sciences(LIF), Mathematics(MAT), Physics(PHY), Social Sciences and Humanities(SOC).

About the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

The MSCA-PF is one of the most important schemes of the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Research & Innovation programme. It aims at developing the potential of young researchers in Europe, by funding excellent research and promoting international mobility, as well as interdisciplinary and intersectoral exchanges.

The proposal must be a joint application between a candidate and a Supervisor from Sorbonne Université or its Alliance partners, which presents an original research project. We welcome two types of fellowship applications:

• European Fellowships: With Sorbonne Université or one of its ASU partners as the Host Institution, for a duration of 12 to 24 months. Secondments in partner research or industrial organisations are possible.
• Global Fellowships: With an outgoing phase of 12 to 24 months at a Host Institution outside of the EU or associated countries, and a return phase of 12 months at ASU.

The fellows selected for funding, after external evaluation by independent experts appointed by the European Commission, will be employed by Sorbonne Université or its ASU partner under a full social benefits contract for up to 24 months (or 36 months for Global Fellowships), including a mobility allowance for all fellows and a family allowance for eligible fellows. The funding will also cover additional research costs of up to €1000/month. Sorbonne Université has received theHRS4R awardand provides a world-class research working environment in terms of Ethics & research integrity, recruitment, working conditions, and training.

How to apply

1. Select a Supervisorin a given Host Institution from the list of Panels advertised on Sorbonne Université’s website: https://www.sorbonne-universite.fr/en/news/msca-postdoctoral-fellowships-sorbonne-university-2026
2. Prepare your CV, a motivation letter and fill in the required online application before April, 24thon https://msca-pf.sorbonne-universite.fr
3. The selected candidates will be contacted by the Alliance Sorbonne Université appropriate member and will be invited to the MSCA Master Class on June 8th - 9th.

Eligibility criteria

• The researcher must be in possession of a doctoral degree or have successfully unconditionally defended their doctoral thesis before the call deadline (Sept. 9th 2026)
• Maximum 8 years (full-time equivalent) research experience from the date of award of the (first) doctoral degree
• Must comply with the following mobility rule: they must have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France (or European Postdoctoral Fellowships) or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediatly before the call deadline
• The programme is open to applicants of any nationality. Only one proposal per applicant is eligible. Beware that applicants who have applied to the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship 2026 call and received an evaluation below 80%are not eligible for an application in 2026.

Selection process

The applicants for each of the proposed project topics in this call for applications will be selected by the Supervisors.

The selected applicants and their Supervisors, over the summer, will write a joint proposal on their project topic, which will be submitted to the Horizon EuropeMSCA PostdoctoralFellowship calland evaluated by experts appointed by the European Commission on the basis of Excellence, Impact and Quality & Efficiency of the Implementation by one of 8 selection panels.

If selected, the proposal will be funded in 2027-2028 by the European Commission through Sorbonne Université or its partners, which will employ the researcher and provide the allocated research funds, as well as the logistics and necessary facilities to implement the project.