Call for Expression of interest MSCA - POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS - 2026
Under the Horizon Europe framework program Scientific Excellence pillar, CRIA is available to be your host institution in the field of Anthropology at the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships call.
CRIA is a research centre in Anthropology, with subunits in four Portuguese universities - ISCTE, NOVA FCSH, U Coimbra and UMinho. Currently, it has 222 researchers including university professors, researchers, post-doctoral and doctoral fellows, among others. The four combined universities allow CRIA to create a unique and comprehensive environment, having
the resources and facilities to support research and teaching at both national and international levels.
CRIA's research activities fall into four main research groups: 1) Circulation and Production of Places, 2) Environmental Challenges, Sustainability and Ethnography, 3) Governance, Politics and Everyday Life, 4) Culture Practices and Policies.
CRIA awarded 'Excellent' rating in FCT's R&D units evaluation (2018-2023).
For more information visit: https://cria.org.pt/en
If you wish to have CRIA as your host institution please sent us your proposal by July 9th (11:00am., Lisbon time), here: https://forms.gle/ZGWXLqH4AXnxbA3p6
You will be asked for:
1) Full name and e-mail;
2) Indication on the type of action under Horizon-MSCA-2026-PF: European Postdoctoral Fellowship or Global Postdoctoral Fellowship;
3) CV (max. 5 pages, only last 5 years);
4) Motivation letter (maximum 1 page);
5) Provisional title, 4 keywords and 1 to 3 SDG;
6) Short research project (maximum 2 pages). Please organize your project with objective, scope and expected impact as described on MSCA work programme (MSCA-2026-PF: Postdoctoral Fellowships), aligned with CRIA’s goals and mission;
7) Short career development plan for the next 5 years. Please centre the first two years (or three if it is a Global Fellowship) on your future MSCA grant at CRIA. In addition to research or innovation objectives, this plan comprises the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences (maximum 2 pages);
8) Support letter/e-mail from your future supervisor at CRIA. If you don’t have a supervisor, CRIA will suggest a supervisor upon evaluation, based on your cv and research project. Please point out one Research group within CRIA that best suits your
application (https://cria.org.pt/en/research-groups);
9) All documents in English.
Please label each uploaded document with “SURNAME_Name-type of document” (motivation letter; cv; research project; career development plan; supervisor support letter). Incomplete proposals will not be accepted.
Applicants will be informed of CRIA’s decision by July 15th to the e-mail address associated to the form.
You may be asked for further documents/information upon proposal approval.
CRIA’s call on Euraxess: https://www.euraxess.pt/jobs/hosting/expression-interest-msca-
postdoctoral-fellowships-2026
Deadline to applications on Horizon Europe Funding & Tenders Portal: September 9th, 2026 (17:00, Brussels time):
CRIA’s contact to MSCA-PF: ana.carrapato@cria.org.pt.
About MSCA
More:
Applying for an MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship with CRIA also gives access to an additional funding opportunity under the European Commission’s Widening programme: ERA Fellowships.
These fellowships support researchers of any nationality applying to host institutions in Widening countries, such as Portugal.
Applicants who are not selected for MSCA funding may still receive funding through ERA Fellowships, without needing to resubmit their proposal.
Be aware:
Candidates that applied for the 2025 call for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships having received a score of less than 70% are not eligible to apply in 2026.
Candidates may be of any nationality, have defended their PhD within the last 8 years, and should not have resided or performed their principal research activity in Portugal for more than 12 months before September 9th of 2026, according to the rules of the MSCA-PostDoctoral funding program.
Please check Horizon-MSCA-2026-PF eligibility conditions:
“Supported fellows must be postdoctoral researchers at the date of the call deadline, i.e. in a possession of a doctoral degree. Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered as postdoctoral researchers and will be considered eligible to apply.
At the call deadline, supported researchers must have a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research, measured from the date of award of the doctoral degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks (e.g. due to parental leave*), will not count towards the amount of research experience.
(…)
Recruited researchers must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.”
*Maternity: for each child born within the above mentioned eligibility period of 8 years, 18 months will be deducted
from the experience in research unless the applicant can document a longer parental leave prior to the call
deadline. Paternity: for each child born within the above mentioned eligibility period of 8 years, the documented
time of parental leave taken until the call deadline will be deducted from the experience in research.
Source:
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 | 2. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (18 May
2026, p. 82)
Please check MSCA dedicated webpage to get detailed info: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/postdoctoral-fellowships
