Advertorial - Galicia, an attractive R&D ecosystem for MSCA fellows
In the latest call for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (2025), Galicia ranked fourth among Spanish regions for selected projects, behind Catalonia, Madrid and Andalusia. Fifteen of the 127 projects submitted from Galicia were selected, giving a success rate of 11.8%, above both the Spanish average (9.4%) and the European average (9.6%).
For the Galician government, strengthening the science and research ecosystem is a priority, and the MSCA-PF programme is a valuable tool for attracting international scientific talent, including Galician researchers trained abroad for whom the Marie Curie programme may provide a bridge back home.
The high standards of the MSCA-PF call help attract top international candidates to lead the future of science, particularly important for a growing R&D ecosystem like Galicia’s.
Four leaders of Galician research groups hosting fellows selected in the 2025 call explain why they value bringing these researchers into their teams. David Posada, María Giménez, Carlos Pérez Carmona and Diego Martínez are part of the Oportunius Programme — an initiative of the Galician government to promote research excellence — and lead competitive groups in areas including cancer genomics, materials for energy conversion and storage, ecology and particle physics.
Oportunius offers competitive working conditions and additional financial support to ERC grant holders, as well as expert guidance for ERC and MSCA applicants. A new line of support for MSCA-PF candidates joining Galician institutions has already achieved a 10% success rate in its first year.
Professor David Posada leads the Phylogenomics group at the Centre for Research in Nanomaterials and Biomedicine (CINBIO) at the University of Vigo and the Cancer Genomics group at IIS Galicia Sur. He received two ERC grants (StG 2007 and CoG 2013) and has extensive experience supervising MSCA fellows. His lab at CINBIO will host a new fellow from New Zealand starting in October.
“I don’t see MSCA fellows simply as researchers who strengthen my team, but also as colleagues I can help develop. Supporting young researchers is part of my role as a team leader, just as others supported me”, states Dr Posada.
He believes MSCA fellows make a strong contribution to Galicia’s R&D ecosystem: “They bring internationalisation — whether from abroad or as Galicians returning home. They provide networking opportunities, new contacts, unique skills and fresh approaches, which enrich us and drive research forward, something essential in a growing ecosystem such as Galicia’s.”
Professor María Giménez leads the Condensed Matter & Functional Materials group at CiQUS at the University of Santiago de Compostela. She was herself an MSCA Fellow at the University of Nottingham between 2009 and 2011 and returned to Spain in 2018 after 11 years in the United Kingdom. She holds an ERC Starting Grant (2015) and two ERC Proof of Concept grants (2021 and 2025).
Prof Giménez has already hosted two MSCA fellows and will welcome another this autumn. She believes Galicia offers an attractive environment for young researchers.
“When choosing a group for a postdoctoral fellowship, researchers look for the best groups in their field within the country they wish to move to. Galicia has excellent centres and research groups, among the best in their fields, and we support fellows so they can understand our system and potentially develop their careers here.”
Carlos Pérez Carmona, Research Professor at the Misión Biológica de Galicia (MBG-CSIC), was himself an MSCA fellow and spent two years in the Czech Republic before working for almost a decade at the University of Tartu in Estonia. His group will host its first MSCA fellow in September, arriving from Estonia.
Prof Pérez Carmona believes the Oportunius Programme has been crucial in attracting leading scientists and fostering outstanding research groups, making Galicia attractive to MSCA fellows worldwide. “The Galician science system is of a higher standard than one would expect in a region of this size.”
According to Dr Diego Martínez, head of the Nuclear and High-Energy Physics and Technology group at the University of A Coruña, and ERC grantee in 2014, the key factor for an MSCA fellow is the quality of the host group. “In particle physics, it is essential that the group is integrated into the international research community and based in a CERN member country.”
The four group leaders agree that, while not essential, obtaining an MSCA-PF grant is an excellent first step towards leading an ERC-funded project. As Prof Posada puts it: “Anyone capable of designing a strong project and securing an MSCA-PF grant has the skills needed to lead an ERC-funded project. It is almost a natural progression.”