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HEScience and society2025

ART · MSCA Presidency Conference 2025: Attracting and retaining talent in Europe

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2025-05-01 → 2025-12-31
EU contribution
€150,000
Participants
1
Scheme
HORIZON-CSA

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

MSCA Presidency Conference 2025: Attracting and retaining talent in Europe

Europe is a knowledge-based society: it crucially needs to invest in human talent to drive innovation, progress and sustainability in society. Research universities are the training ground par excellence to deliver talent into society. There is a need to strengthen research careers to attract and retain talents in the global race for talents and make the overall European research and innovation system stronger and more competitive. Further, the Council Conclusions on ‘Deepening the European Research Area: Providing researchers with attractive and sustainable careers and working conditions and making brain circulation a reality’ of May 2021 pointed out the need for more coordinated action at European level to overcome the existing challenges faced by researchers. It further pointed to the need for adequate and sustainable, competitive and inclusive research careers, to stimulate balanced talent circulation and make Europe an attractive destination for researchers. In 2018, the ERA set new objectives, including (a) supporting the mobility, skills, and career prospects of researchers, and (b) promoting gender equality and diversity. The MSCA programme is critical to attract and retain talent in Europe and halt the brain-drain that Europe has experienced in recent years. With a human-centred focus, the goal of the MSCA Presicey Conference 2025 to address the challenges facing academia in the competition for early-career research talent to secure the sustainability of a strong and excellent research and innovation system in Europe, encompassing industry, academia and public actors. The MSCA Danish Presidency Conference 2025 will seek to foster discussions and propose actionable solutions to meet the demands of future researchers in relation to purposefulness, inclusion and working life conditions in general, and ensure the retention of top talent in European academia.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Denmark will assume the presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2025. The Technical University of Denmark (DTU), as requested by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, will organise the annual Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Presidency Conference. The event will be held 18-19 September 2025, at DTU Campus in Lyngby, just north of Copenhagen. Project and conference organisation will be managed by the DTU under the umbrella of the Danish Presidency, which oversees all high-level research and innovation conferences organised during the presidency semester. With the title MSCA Attracting and Retaining Talent in Europe (ART), the conference has the overall aim of fostering human-centred discussions on purposefulness, motivation, expectations and demands from current and future generations of researchers in their working-life – and how we can attract and retain an excellent workforce in research in Europe. The conference will give specific emphasis to purposefulness, motivation, and means to foster a diverse and inclusive work culture, including well-being. As the academic landscape continues to evolve, the conference aims to examine how universities can adapt to meet the expectations of early-career researchers (ECR), including Millennials and Gen Z, who seek balance between professional growth and personal well-being. By bringing together key stakeholders, the conference will explore the purpose-driven motivation of future generations and share insights on promoting academic fairness, diversity, and equality. Contributing to the competitiveness and attractiveness of European universities, in collaboration with industry and public bodies, to future generations of top talent, this discussion will support the continued excellence of European research and innovation.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET · Kongens LyngbyCoordinatorDenmark

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union