Quick answer
Strong MSCA supervision and training are specific to the researcher's or candidates' development needs. Start from the future capability you want to create, identify the gap between current and required expertise, then design supervision, formal training, secondments and knowledge transfer around that gap.
Supervision is an operating relationship
A supervisor biography is not a supervision plan.
The proposal needs to show how the research will be guided, challenged and reviewed. Useful elements include:
- regular scientific meetings;
- milestone or objective reviews;
- career-development discussions;
- access to co-supervisors or specialists;
- preparation for secondments;
- escalation routes when research problems arise;
- feedback on publications, presentations and project decisions.
The structure should match the complexity of the project. A highly interdisciplinary project may need more than one source of scientific guidance.
Training should follow a gap analysis
Write down two profiles:
Profile today - methods, domain knowledge, leadership, networks and transferable skills already present.
Profile after the action - capabilities needed for the intended next career stage.
The difference is the training plan.
This prevents generic lists of courses from taking over the proposal.
Research training and transferable training need to interact
Research-specific training might include:
- experimental techniques;
- modelling;
- data analysis;
- AI or statistical methods;
- instrumentation;
- clinical, industrial or field protocols.
Transferable training might include:
- project management;
- research integrity;
- open science;
- IP and exploitation;
- communication;
- teaching and supervision;
- leadership;
- entrepreneurship.
The best proposal explains when each capability becomes useful inside the project.
Two-way knowledge transfer needs an exchange mechanism
Write the transfer in both directions.
Researcher to host
What does the researcher already know that is valuable to the group?
Host to researcher
What can the host teach or provide that changes the researcher's capability?
Shared creation
What new method, workflow, dataset or research capability emerges because the two sides interact?
Seminars and meetings can support transfer, but they are not the transfer itself.
Secondments should have a scientific or career function
A secondment is strongest when it solves a specific problem:
- access to equipment;
- method acquisition;
- validation in another environment;
- exposure to industrial constraints;
- access to users or data;
- training unavailable at the main host.
If the proposal cannot explain why the secondment changes the project or the researcher, reconsider whether it is necessary.
Doctoral Networks need network-level supervision
In a Doctoral Network, local supervision is only one layer.
The programme also needs to coordinate:
- supervision standards across beneficiaries;
- candidate progress monitoring;
- joint or cross-institutional supervision where relevant;
- career-development planning;
- network-wide training;
- secondment quality;
- communication between supervisors;
- candidate feedback and problem escalation.
The supervisory board should therefore have an operational purpose.
Postdocs and doctoral candidates need different support
A postdoctoral fellow is normally expected to operate with a greater level of independence than a doctoral candidate. The training plan should reflect this.
For PF applicants, valuable development may include leadership, project ownership, supervision experience, grant preparation or building a new technical capability.
For doctoral candidates, the programme may need more structured methodological training, progressive independence and clear career-development support.
Make training measurable without making it bureaucratic
Useful indicators include:
- acquisition of a defined technique;
- completion of a secondment objective;
- delivery of a training module;
- supervision of a junior researcher;
- preparation of an exploitation or data-management output;
- presentation to a new scientific or industrial community.
The purpose is to show progress, not create paperwork.
Final supervision and training test
Ask:
- What capability is missing today?
- Who will provide it?
- Through what mechanism?
- When will it be used in the research?
- How will we know it was acquired?
- What does the host gain in return?
If those six questions are answered clearly, the training logic is usually strong.
Related MSCA resources
- Postdoctoral Fellowship strategy guide
- Doctoral Networks strategy guide
- MSCA Excellence guide
- MSCA Impact guide
Need help integrating the training plan?
Arvacore can review whether supervision, training, secondments and knowledge transfer actually support the scientific and career logic of the proposal.