Marie-Curie Funding Distribution

The set of funding initiatives under the Marie-Curie Actions is among the best research funding arrangements in the world in terms of scale and researcher autonomy. Among other things, it will fund some of the activity in our research center through a career-integration grant awarded to me and I hope that others will apply through the initiative to come here. The EU has a very nice website outlining the distribution of research funding from Marie-Curie across countries and across the different actions. These are clearly competitive awards and anyone submitting an individual proposal should start well in advance. The main ones of relevance to individual researchers are below. I don't know the exact dates for future competitions but they are posted on many research websites well in advance. For anyone who has finished a PhD recently, I can't recommend highly enough looking at these opportunities. 

1. 16 August 2012: International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development 

The specific objectives of the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowships for CareerDevelopment can be described as follows:

"This action aims to reinforce the international dimension of the career of European researchers by giving them the opportunity to be trained and acquire new knowledge in a high-level organisation active in research, established in an Other Third Country. Subsequently, these researchers will return with the acquired knowledge and experience to an organisation in a Member State or Associated country" (2011 "People" Work Programme)

Experienced researchers applying to this action need to identify and develop a research training project that will provide the means to advance significantly in their career. A fundamental concept underlying this action is that of advanced training and life-long learning. In essence, the fellowship should enable the experienced researcher to progress in the development of his/her career and should not represent a temporary solution. The fellowship is expected to be part of a structured, long-term professional development plan that is coherent with past achievements and clearly defines the future aims of the researcher.
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/people?callIdentifier=FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IOF

2. 16^th August 2012: Intra-European Fellowships for career development (IEF) 
This action provides financial support for advanced training and trans-national mobility, for a period of 12 to 24 months (full-time equivalent), for individual projects presented by experienced researchers active in Member States or associated countries in liaison with a host organisation from another Member State or associated country. Overall, projects are expected to add significantly to the career development of the best and most promising researchers active in Europe, in order to enhance and maximise their contribution to the knowledge-based economy and society.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/people?callIdentifier=FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF

3. 18^th September 2012: Marie Curie Career Integration Grant 
Marie Curie Career Integration Grants are intended to improve considerably the prospects for the permanent integration of researchers who are offered a stable research post in Europe after a mobility period in a country different from the country where the researcher has been active during the past years (i.e. the researcher has to be mobile but can come from anywhere in the world – moving within Europe or coming from outside Europe). The duration of these grants is up to 4 years.