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RAISE Doctoral Networks for AI in Science (RAISE pilot)

Horizon Europe · Grant topic

HORIZON-RAISE-2026-01-03

Summary

Not an R&D call a Polish company can use, by Scindu's rule.

Funds doctoral networks developing innovative AI systems, models, tools or methodologies for science through applications submitted to MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026.

Who can apply
Companies can lead: SME, large company, startup, research org, university, NGO, public body, municipality.
Amount
€90,000,000Indicative budget
Deadline
24 Nov 2026 01:00 CETin 31 days
Status
Openopened 28 May 2026
Open on the portalRegister to keep this call

Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.

Description

Expected Outcome:

This action builds on the MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 call (HORIZON-MSCA-DN-2026).

The project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported doctoral candidates:

• New research and transferable skills and competences in the application of AI in science, leading to improved employability and career prospects within and outside academia;

• New knowledge allowing the conversion of ideas into products and services, where relevant;

• Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact.

For participating organisations:

• Improved quality, relevance and sustainability of doctoral training programmes and supervision arrangements;

• Enhanced cooperation and transfer of knowledge between sectors and disciplines;

• Increased integration of training and research activities between participating organisations;

• Boosted R&I capacity and uptake of AI in science;

• Increased internationalisation and attractiveness;

• Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

Scope:

Successful RAISE Doctoral Networks and doctoral candidates will be associated with RAISE, the Resource for AI Science in Europe. They will become part of the RAISE research community and will interact with its other members.

As such, the scope of this call is limited to AI (artificial intelligence) in science, as outlined below. Proposals should therefore clearly specify how they meet this “AI in science” criterion.

Doctoral candidates are to either develop or significantly participate in the development of innovative AI systems, models, tools or methodologies for their scientific domain. These systems, models, tools or methodologies must substantially innovate the way in which scientific information is analysed and enable a scientific contribution that furthers the state of the art in the discipline of the doctoral research.

The development of the AI tool, model or methodology is to be an integral and indispensable part of the research work and be clearly delineated in the research work package. The scientific advancements of the project are to be directly dependent on the capabilities and application of these AI algorithms to drive the scientific inquiry, prediction, or understanding.

Proposals are to achieve research results in the domain-scientific discipline of the doctoral research through using innovative AI techniques, going beyond a unique focus on computer-scientific AI development (e.g. to result in publications only in computer-scientific AI-related venues) or the use of existing AI systems, methodologies or general-purpose computational tools for data processing/statistical analysis in an instrumental way.

All doctoral candidates should receive dedicated doctoral-level training on AI in science (understood as outlined above).

In order to apply for the RAISE Doctoral Networks call, applicants must submit their proposal to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks 2026. At proposal stage, applicants will be able to declare their interest in being considered for the RAISE Doctoral Networks and, if so, they should demonstrate that their proposal falls within the scope of the RAISE call.

The proposals submitted under the RAISE Doctoral Networks must fulfil all the admissibility and eligibility conditions of the MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026. The RAISE proposals will be evaluated applying the MSCA award criteria and the MSCA scoring system.

At the end of the MSCA evaluation procedure, a cross-panel list of fundable RAISE proposals will be established with the highest-ranking reserve list proposals. The list would be ranked according to the MSCA evaluation scores and comprise proposals with a requested budget as close as possible to 3 times the available budget. Experts will assess the relevance of the proposals on this list to the RAISE topic. The final ranking of the RAISE proposals will be established taking into consideration the MSCA score and the assessment of the relevance of the proposal to the RAISE topic.

Who can apply, in detail
Applicant types
SME, Large company, Startup, Research org, University, NGO, Public body, Municipality
Purpose
Training and people
R&D relevance
2 of 3
Poland eligible
Yes
Country limit
At least three independent consortium entities in different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, including at least one EU Member State.
Region
Any
Consortium
Required
Readiness level (TRL)
—
Topics
  • AI for science
  • Doctoral research training
  • Scientific AI models
  • Interdisciplinary research

Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source. 23 Oct 2026

Conditions11

Typed facts extracted from the source documents by Scindu's grant-data review. Each value keeps its own conditions. Unknown means unstated, not zero or unlimited.

Applicant restriction
Applicants must submit the proposal to MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026. At proposal stage they may declare interest in the RAISE Doctoral Networks assessment and must demonstrate the proposal is in scope. It must fulfil the MSCA DN 2026 admissibility and eligibility conditions; evaluation uses MSCA award criteria and scoring.
Applicant type
Applications require a consortium of at least three independent legal entities, each in a different EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, with at least one in an EU Member State. If none can award a doctoral degree, a degree-awarding university or eligible academic/research grouping must join as an associated partner or an associated partner linked to a beneficiary. Every beneficiary must recruit at least one doctoral candidate; affiliated entities cannot participate.
Application restriction
A proposal submitted to the previous MSCA Doctoral Networks Horizon Europe call with a score below 80% must not be resubmitted the following year. Proposals with at least 70% of the same recruiting organisations as such a low-scoring previous proposal are assessed by external evaluators for resubmission, regardless of self-declaration.
Consortium required
Yes
Eligible project scope
RAISE scope is limited to AI in science: doctoral candidates must develop or significantly participate in innovative domain-science AI systems/models/tools/methodologies, with AI development integral and indispensable to the doctoral research; candidates must receive dedicated doctoral-level AI-in-science training.
Other condition
For Joint Doctorates, action duration may be up to 60 months and individual fellowship duration up to 48 months; these are exceptions to the standard 48-month action and 36-month fellowship maxima.
Other condition
The overall EU contribution for an MSCA Doctoral Networks action is limited to a maximum of 540 person-months.
Other condition
After the MSCA evaluation, a cross-panel RAISE fundable list is formed from the highest-ranking reserve-list proposals with a requested budget as close as possible to three times the available budget. Experts assess RAISE relevance; final RAISE rank combines MSCA score and relevance assessment.
Other condition
The RAISE doctoral network topic opened 28 May 2026 and deadline is 24 November 2026 at 17:00 Brussels local time; this is a single-stage call. The general Horizon call footnote reserves limited DG power to adjust opening/deadline dates.
Other condition
No more than 40% of the EU contribution may be allocated to beneficiaries in the same country or to a single International European Research Organisation or international organisation.

No more than 40% of the EU contribution may be allocated to beneficiaries in the same country or to a single IERO/international organisation.

Project duration, maximum
48 month

Standard MSCA Doctoral Networks action maximum, including time to recruit/select doctoral candidates; Joint Doctorates have a separate maximum of 60 months.

Amounts and costs9
Indicative budget
€90,000,000

Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.

Call allocation
€30,000,000
Eligible cost
Special-needs allowance uses a requested preset unit (EUR 3,000; 4,500; 6,000; 9,500; 13,000; 18,500; 27,500; 35,500; 47,500; or 60,000) multiplied by 1/number of months. It is conditional on certified disability-related additional needs; must not be funded elsewhere; request when need arises.
Eligible cost
EU support is a unit contribution per researcher person-month: living allowance EUR 4,250 (country-corrected), mobility EUR 710, conditional family EUR 660, conditional long-term leave allowance EUR 4,960 multiplied by beneficiary-covered percentage, and special-needs allowance from prescribed requested-unit tiers; separate institutional units are EUR 1,600 for research/training/networking and EUR 1,200 for management/indirect. The beneficiary pays at least the living allowance after compulsory deductions; the living unit is gross and includes employer/employee social charges and direct taxes.

Rates and allowances

An allowance, cap or unit contribution is not a guaranteed salary.

  • Unit contribution · Family allowance · person€660/ person_month

    Conditional per-person-month family allowance; due if the doctoral candidate has or acquires family obligations during the action, defined as marriage, a relationship equivalent to marriage recognized by the relevant country/region, or dependent children actually maintained by the researcher.

  • Minimum · Salary · person€4,250/ person_month

    Base living-allowance unit contribution per person-month, multiplied by the country correction coefficient for the recruiting beneficiary. It is a gross amount including employer/employee social-security contributions and direct taxes. Beneficiary must pay at least living allowance minus compulsory deductions; top-up may be added. If a fixed-amount fellowship is exceptionally used instead of a contract, the living allowance is halved. Not a universal take-home salary or pay ceiling.

  • Unit contribution · Other · beneficiary€4,960/ person_month

    Per researcher person-month unit multiplied by the percentage covered by the beneficiary. Supports personnel costs for long-term researcher leave (maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave) longer than 30 consecutive days; requested when the need arises.

  • Unit contribution · Management indirect · beneficiary€1,200/ person_month

    Institutional unit contribution per recruited researcher person-month for beneficiary additional action-management and indirect costs; not a personal salary.

  • Unit contribution · Mobility allowance · person€710/ person_month

    Per-person-month mobility allowance for every doctoral candidate, in addition to living allowance; covers additional private mobility-related costs, not professional costs under the action.

  • Unit contribution · Research training · beneficiary€1,600/ person_month

    Institutional unit contribution per recruited researcher person-month for research, training and networking; covers action-related research/training/networking costs, not a personal salary.

Personnel and services1

  • Doctoral candidate

    Required staff

    Standard full-time fellowship duration is 3–36 months; Joint Doctorates may run up to 48 months. Standard action maximum is 48 months including recruitment/selection; Joint Doctorates may run up to 60 months. Part-time work is allowed only for personal/family reasons with prior granting-authority approval; at least 50% of full working time must be devoted to the action, with unit contributions reported pro rata (medical exception to 50% may be granted). Secondments may total up to half of actual research-training months, except for Industrial and Joint Doctorates. Industrial Doctorate candidates must spend at least 50% of fellowship duration in the non-academic sector.

Source documents3
Call facts
Opens
28 May 2026
Deadline model
Single-stage
Programme
Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
Call
HORIZON-RAISE-2026-01-MSCA · RAISE Doctoral Networks for AI in Science
Types of action
HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks, HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks - Joint Doctorates, HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks - Industrial Doctorates
Keywords
  • AI, RAISE, AI in Science, Doctoral Networks
Source
ec.europa.eu
Checked
23 Oct 2026
Portal updated
29 May 2026
Review status
Partial review
Reviewed
23 Oct 2026

This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.