Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network GRAIL 2026
About this scholarship
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network GRAIL funds doctoral projects across Europe in high-energy atmospheric physics, detectors, and space instrumentation with training, mobility, and secondments.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network GRAIL is a European doctoral training network funded under the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks. GRAIL stands for Gamma Radiation from the Atmosphere for Investigation and Learning and brings together universities and research institutes across Europe to train doctoral candidates in high-energy atmospheric physics and related technologies.
The programme supports PhD-level study and research. Based on the reference posting, the network offers 15 individual doctoral projects with structured research training, international mobility, and cross-sector secondments. Research themes include terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, gamma-ray glows, thunderstorm ground enhancements, lightning-related high-energy emissions, radiation risk, advanced measurements and simulations, detector development, electronics, data science, and neural-network-based signal processing.
As an MSCA Doctoral Network, GRAIL is designed for early-stage researchers who want to undertake a doctorate in an international and interdisciplinary environment. Positions are hosted by participating institutions in Europe, including opportunities such as the one highlighted at the Technical University of Denmark. Funding is described as fully funded, though exact stipend levels and benefit details may vary by host institution and local employment rules.
Applicants generally need a background relevant to the advertised doctoral project and must meet the MSCA mobility rule: they must not have lived or worked in the host country for more than 12 months during the 36 months before recruitment. Because GRAIL is a network programme, candidates typically apply to specific doctoral positions advertised by participating hosts rather than through one central degree application.
If you are interested, look for official vacancy notices from the participating GRAIL institutions and carefully review the project-specific academic background, document requirements, and local doctoral admission conditions before applying.
Eligibility
Who can apply for this scholarship
Applicants must be doctoral candidates applying to one of the GRAIL network positions and should have an academic background relevant to the specific project, such as physics, high-energy atmospheric physics, detectors, instrumentation, electronics, space science, data science, or related areas. Candidates must satisfy the Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network mobility rule: they must not have lived or worked in the host country for more than 12 months in the 36 months before recruitment.
Requirements
Documents typically needed to apply
Where you can use this
Open positions accepting Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network GRAIL.
