Marie Curie Initial Training Networks offer early-stage researchers the opportunity to improve their research skills, join established research teams and enhance their career prospects.

The network will recruit and employ eligible researchers or host them, and provide specialised training modules or other dedicated actions. The application should contain a strong element of trans-national networking, aimed at structuring the existing high-quality initial research training capacity throughout EU Member States and Associated Countries.

Training should be primarily through research on individual, personalised projects, complemented by substantial training modules in other relevant skills and competences.
Examples of training topics are: Management and financing of research projects and programmes, intellectual property rights, means of exploiting research results, entrepreneurship, ethical aspects, communication and societal outreach.

ITNs are mainly for the recruitment of researchers from EU Member States and Associated Countries, but the scheme is also open to researchers from Third Countries. Researchers supported by an ITN are normally required to undertake transnational mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) when taking up an appointment.

Successful proposals are funded for up to 4 years. Support provided by the networks to individual researchers may be from 3 to 36 months for early stage researchers or up to a maximum of 24 months for experienced researchers.