19 January 2026
Opening of the call for applications for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships: Proposal Writing Bootcamp at FEUP (‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’) 

28 February 2026
Deadline for submitting the applications for the ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’

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Deadline for the call  Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026 (‘MSCA PF 2026’): 9 September 2026

ABOUT ‘MSCA PF 2026′ and ‘MSCA PF BOOTCAMP’ 

If you are a postdoctoral researcher aiming to foster excellence in your research area and develop your career in Portugal, at one of the country’s most esteemed higher education and research establishments – the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) – then the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ opportunity is certainly for you. Read more about MSCA PF programme on the call official page in the Funding & Tenders Portal, and also on the following pages: here and here.

Furthermore, in order to attract top-notch researchers and project proposals under the above-referred programme, FEUP has prepared a third (2026) edition of the ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp‘. This initiative gives you the opportunity, if selected, to participate in several custom-designed webinar sessions and in-person meetings in order to get acquainted with the work and infrastructures of the relevant research group at FEUP and prepare in close cooperation with this selected group/supervisor an excellent project proposal for the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call. Please note that under the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call, the ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’ initiative targets only the modality ‘European Postdoctoral Fellowships’. 

ABOUT FEUP

U.Porto’s largest faculty – FEUP – is also one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering schools of Portugal, consisting of six departments: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Civil and Georesources Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Department of Informatics Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering.

FEUP’s modern complex – which opened in 2000 on Campus 2 (Asprela) – is an incubator of innovation and knowledge, fostered by the work carried out in the research centres based there, in close contact with the business world and community.

Specifically, FEUP’s research and innovation structures are made up of:

• Research and Development Units

• Associated Laboratories

• Interface Structures (Research institutes affiliated to FEUP)

These elegibility criteria are applicable for both, ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’ and for ‘MSCA PF 2026’ as the goal of the Bootcamp is to prepare for the MSCA PF call.

• An applicant for the ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’ and therefore for the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ must be a postdoctoral researcher at the date of the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call deadline (9 September 2026), i.e. in possession of a doctoral degree (PhD 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. The successful defence must be unconditional (no further requirements/corrections that need to be addressed) and take place before the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call deadline, i.e. 9 September 2026. Supporting documentation may be requested.

• At the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call deadline (9 September 2026), applicants 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. For nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to pursue their research career in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, years of experience in research in third countries will not be considered in the above maximum.

• Applicants must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Portugal for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call deadline (9 September 2026).

The information about the ‘MSCA PF 2026′  call is already available on the official page of the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders Portal, however, the submission system will open on the planned opening date, 9 April, and may introduce changes to the eligibility criteria referred to above. In case of any inconsistencies between the information provided in this regard, the Funding & Tenders Portal shall prevail.

If you are a postdoctoral researcher aiming to foster excellence in your research area and develop your career at FEUP, meet the eligibility criteria of the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call (see the sub-section eligibility criteria) and are interested in applying for the ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’, please choose one of the tracks below (PREDEFINED TOPIC / OPEN TOPIC) in order to apply by the deadline 28 February 2026, following the procedure described under the respective track.

Please be informed that, at most, you can submit one application under the track PREDEFINED TOPIC (i.e., choose one of the predefined topics presented below). In case of a PREDEFINED TOPIC, the supervisor at FEUP has already been defined. The application limit for the track OPEN TOPIC is the same, i.e., max. one application.

An interested applicant may, therefore, submit a minimum of one application (either for a predefined or open topic) or a maximum of two applications (one for a predefined topic and one for an open topic).

Furthermore, applications submitted for the track PREDEFINED TOPIC will be given priority and shall be evaluated first.

For any questions, please contact us at europe@fe.up.pt

If you meet the eligibility criteria of the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call and you are interested in applying for the ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’ under the PREDEFINED TOPIC, please identify a topic that interests you in the table below and send the following documents to europe@fe.up.pt no later than 28 February 2026:

• Filled in ‘Application Form_PREDEFINED TOPIC (MSCA PF Bootcamp 2026)‘
  This form includes a slot for you to explain how you plan to address the proposed research topic
• Recent CV (max 3 pages)
• Copy of the PhD Diploma

If you don’t yet have a PhD diploma in your possession, other proof/evidence of the successful completion of the PhD by the date of the MSCA PF call deadline (9 September 2026) can also be presented.

Important note: The language for all documents and communication is English (you can, however, present your PhD Diploma in the original language).

If you meet the eligibility criteria of the ‘MSCA PF 2026′ call and you are interested in applying for the ‘MSCA PF Bootcamp’ under the track OPEN TOPIC, please send the following documents to europe@fe.up.pt no later than 28 February 2026:

• Filled in ‘Application Form_OPEN TOPIC (MSCA PF Bootcamp 2026)‘ 
• Recent CV (max 3 pages)
• Copy of the PhD Diploma

If you don’t yet have a PhD diploma in your possession, other proof/evidence of the successful completion of the PhD by the date of the MSCA PF call deadline (9 September 2026) can also be presented.

Important note: The language for all documents and communication is English (you can, however, present your PhD Diploma in the original language).

1. Fulfilment of the eligibility criteria

2. Scientific quality of:

2.1. technical proposal/idea

a) your short research proposal, responding to the concrete PREDEFINED TOPIC that you have selected, and/or

b) your own research proposal under the OPEN TOPIC track

2.2  CV

3. Interview performance

Please see the detailed description of each of the evaluation phases in the next section.

Applications

Evaluation of Applications

MSCA PF Bootcamp

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(**) ERA Fellowships: This action builds on the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026. The target group are host organisations located in Widening Countries (including Portugal). In order to apply for the ERA Fellowships call, applicants must submit their proposal to the MSCA PF 2026. The application to the MSCA PF 2026 will be automatically resubmitted to ERA Fellowships in case the proposal fails to reach an adequate place in the ranking to be funded. Applicants can only be considered for this additional funding opportunity by ticking “YES” to the question “Do you wish to participate to the ERA Postdoctoral Fellowships and thus increase your chances of being funded?” in the MSCA PF application form. This simplified submission procedure to the ERA Fellowships’ call presents applicants moving to Widening countries with an additional funding opportunity but there is the possibility to opt out during the application stage. The proposals submitted under the ERA Fellowships must fulfil all the admissibility and eligibility conditions of the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026 and pass all the thresholds for that call.

FEUP will cover the following costs:

• Up to €600 for flight tickets to candidates travelling from other EU member states (including EU associated countries)
• Up to €1200 for flight tickets to candidates travelling from other countries
• Up to 4 nights’ stay in Porto (single room, breakfast included)
• Network dinner

Important notes:

1. Please be informed that the above-referred funding is designated solely for the purpose (in-person meetings at FEUP) and cannot, under any circumstances, be used to cover any other/alternative ends/costs.

2. The purchase of round trip tickets (plane/train/bus) shall be handled centrally by the services of FEUP and should always start and end at the place of residence of the successful applicant without a possibility of purchasing these tickets from/to another location. In addition, the tickets shall be purchased according to the start and end dates of the in-person meetings, i.e. whenever possible one day before the start of and the day following the end of these meetings (exceptions are made for intercontinental/long distance flights).