The European Union (EU) and India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have announced a significant new initiative to bolster EU-India research cooperation under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges program. This partnership, which falls under the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation framework, represents a pivotal step in enhancing collaborative scientific efforts between Europe and India.
Through this co-funding scheme, CSIR will provide additional financial support to selected MSCA Staff Exchanges projects. This will enable CSIR institutes to participate in joint research endeavors with European and international partners. Additionally, it will allow Indian scientific and technical staff to be seconded to European research organizations for knowledge sharing and collaborative research activities. The initiative aims to foster balanced researcher mobility and cultivate long-term collaborations between the two regions.
The funding, which will be available from 2025 to 2027, is open to any CSIR institution involved in successful projects selected under the upcoming Staff Exchange calls. This collaboration not only strengthens the research and innovation ties between Europe and India but also drives scientific and technological progress by enhancing institutional cooperation, collaborative research, and researcher exchanges under Horizon Europe.
The MSCA Staff Exchanges scheme promotes international collaboration by supporting the secondment of research and innovation staff within consortia of organizations based in the EU, Horizon Europe-associated countries, and third countries. The next calls for Staff Exchanges will open on September 19, 2024, with deadlines on February 5, 2025, and March 27, 2025, with a deadline of October 8, 2025.
Commenting on the initiative, Hervé Delphin, Ambassador of the European Union to India, stated, “The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges co-funding initiative marks a watershed moment in EU-India research cooperation. Facilitating exchanges between our most brilliant researchers will turbocharge joint innovation in all domains and pool our expertise to better address global challenges.”
Dr (Mrs.) N Kalaiselvi, Director General of CSIR, echoed this sentiment, saying, “We are excited to join forces with the EU on this transformative initiative. This co-funding program will not only boost exchanges of our researchers but also forge stronger institutional ties and foster groundbreaking research collaborations.”
