The European Commission has awarded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Seal of Excellence certificates to 2,939 applicants under the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 call. These applicants submitted excellent proposals but did not receive funding due to insufficient budget. The proposals that received the certificate had host organisations in 30 countries. The fourth MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call had received a total of 10,360 proposals, of which 1,696 applicants received funding.
The Seal of Excellence is a guarantee of the outstanding value of the research project, recognised by a comprehensive and thorough assessment process. Beneficiaries can use this award to apply for alternative funding for their research. A proposal which has earned the MSCA Seal of Excellence may be supported by national and regional support programmes. As of 2025, 18 European countries have such support schemes in place at different levels, with the Croatian government and the French region of Brittany opening the most recent funding schemes.