MSCA ITN 2019 call is now open – what has changed?

17th September 2018 at 12:32 pm

Patiently we have been waiting for the new Innovative Training Networks (ITN) call (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019) to open last week (13th September 2018) to see if anything has changed since the last opening in October 2017. We have checked the basic conditions for the call and have compared the new versions of the Guide for Applicants and the Standard Proposal Template (administrative forms (Part A) and the templates for Part B1 and Part B2) to their previous versions and collected all the changes.

What is new (and what is not)?

Although most key requirements have remained unchanged, there have been some minor updates and bigger changes for the new ITN call. The budget for European Training Networks (ETN) has been increased from € 375 million to € 400 million, as has the budget for European Industrial Doctorates (EID) from € 32 million to € 35 million. However, the key points, such as the duration of the projects, minimum number of beneficiaries, maximum number of person-months per network, and other requirements stay the same.

The latest version 4.0 of the Guide for Applicants (GfA) offers some more explanations and some parts have been reworded in order for clarification. For example, terms such as “secondment” are being more thoroughly explained, and the section on Open Access under Horizon 2020 has been reworded to avoid ambiguity or any misunderstandings. The European Commission also included some useful tips on the new Partner Search tool of Horizon 2020.

Some bigger changes are certainly that there will no longer be a GANTT chart in the proposal. but a new table for European Industrial Doctorates (EID) proposals (GfA, p.43), and the PIC (Partner Identification Code) for Partner Organisations that has been added last year is no longer mandatory, although still highly encouraged (GfA, p.41). Another novelty can be found in Annex 2 of the Guide for Applicants on the Evaluation Criteria and Procedure (GfA, p.34ff.), which now includes a paragraph on ‘Financial capacity’ and a detailed overview of the evaluation process.

All changes at a glance

We have created a document for you to download containing a detailed overview of all changes, whether they concern ITN proposals in general or specific new requirements for European Training Networks (ETN), European Joint Doctorates (EJD), or European Industrial Doctorates (EID).

Download a detailed overview of all new requirements for ITN proposals 2019 here:

History of Changes

The table below shows the changes in version 4.0 2019 (13.09.2018) as compared to the previous version 3.0 2018 (27.10.2017) as defined by the European Commission in the History of Changes in the current Guide for Applicants. The official documents are available for download on the Horizon 2020 website under the Innovative Training Networks topic.

Support for your ITN proposal preparations

We not only offer full support in proposal writing but also proposal reviews for existing proposals. So whether you are planning a new proposal or a resubmission, our multi-disciplinary and highly qualified staff has many years of experience to offer you the support you need. Not only will we guide you through the application process by helping you with the proposal writing and administrative tasks, but we offer our support for the whole project life-time, advising you in contract negotiations, setting up a project website, organising meetings, creating deliverables, providing useful templates, dissemination material and other services.

Find out more about our proposal writing and proposal review services.

Our ITN track record

What started out back in 2008 during the 7th Framework Programme with the Initial Training Networks HEALING, SYSWIND, REFINE and TRAIN-ASAP as well as the NeoGel European Industrial Doctorates (EID) programme, has become a long history of supporting training networks since. Our success has not halted with the transition to Horizon 2020, in which we successfully support the Horizon 2020 European Training Networks ClickGene, EXCILIGHT, PEARRL, Train2Target, LightDyNAmics and ImmerSAFE and are involved in three successful Innovative Training Networks (ITN) funded in the 2018 call: NanoCarb and MUSIQ (both ETNs) and STACCATO (an EID).