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The instrumental role of Associated Partners in MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025


27th June 2025 at 1:48 pm



The MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025 call (HORIZON-MSCA-2025-DN-01-01) is now open for submission of proposals, making this an excellent opportunity to delve into the significant role played by an Associated Partner. Their role remains as crucial as ever in enriching the training and secondment experiences of Doctoral Candidates (DCs) or providing complementary expertise and input to your network. Whether they are degree-awarding universities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or larger companies (Industry) offering practical insights into business environments, or non-EU entities bringing global perspectives, their contribution must be meaningful, well-defined and aligned with the project objectives.

At accelopment, we are regularly involved as an Associated Partner and have extensive experience in supporting Doctoral Network (DN) consortia in project management, communication, dissemination, and DC training. Below, we explore what it means to be an Associated Partner in MSCA DNs and the key requirements you need to be aware of in the 2025 call.

What is the most common role of Associated Partners?

In the context of MSCA Doctoral Networks, Associated Partners (previously referred to as Partner Organisations) have a supporting role. Associated Partners do not recruit Doctoral Candidates but they are still recognised as important contributors to the project. Their primary role is to host secondments, provide specific training, participate in the main network body, namely the supervisory board, and support the dissemination or exploitation of results as relevant. Importantly, Associated Partners can come from any sector and any country, including non-associated third countries, as long as their involvement adds value to the project.

What distinguishes Associated Partners from Beneficiaries is that they do not sign the Grant Agreement and cannot receive funding from the European Commission. Instead, the costs related to their contribution (such as training or secondments) are covered by the unit costs paid to the Beneficiaries. These Beneficiaries are then responsible for allocating the necessary resources to ensure the Associated Partners’ involvement is implemented as planned.

 Recruitment of DCsTraining and/or secondments of DCsParticipation in Supervisory BoardDirect claim costs
BeneficiaryYesYesYesYes
Associated PartnerNoYesYesNo

How to incorporate Associated Partner in the proposal?

Each Associated Partner must be listed in Part A of the proposal, including details about their legal entity, country, academic or non-academic status and the name of the scientist-in-charge. Their role must also be clearly described in section 3.2 of Part B1 and further detailed in Part B2, where each Associated Partner is allocated half a page. This includes a description of their involvement in the training programme, secondments or other activities. For standard DNs, secondments are limited to one-third of the recruitment period for each Doctoral Candidate

Unlike in earlier calls, there is no longer a requirement to include a Letter of Commitment (LoC) from Associated Partners in the Part B2 document. However, their contribution still needs to be well-integrated and justified in the proposal. The evaluators will assess the coherence of the consortium structure and the suitability of the proposed roles, including how the Associated Partners add value to the training and research objectives.

Pro tip: Make sure the profile of each Associated Partner is tailored to their role in the project and demonstrate why their involvement is essential by linking it to specific training needs, research complementarities, or innovation and impact pathways.

Expert help and support

As an Associated Partner, we at accelopment are currently involved in multiple ongoing MSCA DNs under Horizon Europe, including three DNs currently closing their grant preparations (BioTransform, INT2ACT, PANIONS), seven ongoing DNs DarChem, BREAKthrough, MobiliTraIN, MITGEST, CONCISE, MIRELAI and SYNSENSO, as well as many successful H2020 ITNs. Our primary role in DNs is the support of the administrative project management, communication and dissemination activities throughout the project implementation. Additionally, our experienced trainers deliver interactive and engaging sessions that equip DCs with essential transferable skills such as science communication and grant writing. Whether you need support during the proposal writing phase or after grant agreement preparation, our multi-disciplinary team is ready to contribute to the success of your next project.

Jacqueline Strehler

Jacqueline Strehler
Research & Innovation Project Manager

Dr. Anna Ziemele
Research & Innovation Project Associate