BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY

Their core work

Stanford University is a world-leading US research university that serves as a premier destination for European researchers on Marie Skłodowska-Curie mobility fellowships. In H2020, Stanford hosts visiting fellows and training network participants across an extraordinarily broad range of disciplines — from biomedical sciences and climate economics to neuroscience and data analytics. Their role is to provide access to Stanford's research infrastructure, faculty mentorship, and interdisciplinary environment, enabling European early-career researchers to conduct part of their fellowship work at one of the world's top-ranked institutions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015-2018), Stanford's H2020 engagements were remarkably scattered — marine protected areas, educational inequality, parenting psychology, photovoltaics, and biomedical imaging, reflecting its role as a general-purpose host for diverse MSCA fellows. In the later period (2019-2022), a clearer concentration emerges around drug delivery systems, nanomaterials, digital humanities, and precision health, suggesting either a shift in which European fellows target Stanford or a tightening of Stanford's own collaborative priorities. The overall trajectory moves from broad disciplinary hospitality toward more focused biomedical and health-oriented engagement.

Stanford's H2020 portfolio is converging toward health sciences and data-driven research, making it an increasingly targeted destination for biomedical and digital health collaborations rather than a catch-all prestige host.

How they like to work

Stanford participates almost exclusively as a third-party host (87 of 88 projects), meaning it does not formally join EU consortia but instead receives European researchers through MSCA mobility schemes. It never coordinates H2020 projects and receives no direct EC funding. With 394 unique partners across 41 countries, Stanford functions as a high-prestige satellite node — many European institutions send fellows there, but the relationship is typically one-directional rather than a deep bilateral partnership.

Stanford has touched 394 unique consortium partners in 41 countries, making it one of the most broadly connected non-EU entities in H2020. However, these connections are shallow by design — they result from hosting individual MSCA fellows rather than from deep consortium collaborations.

What sets them apart

As a US-based institution, Stanford offers European researchers something no EU partner can: access to Silicon Valley's ecosystem, Stanford's world-class labs, and an interdisciplinary culture that spans engineering, medicine, social sciences, and humanities under one roof. Its 88 H2020 engagements make it one of the most active non-European participants in the programme, signaling strong institutional support for transatlantic research mobility. For consortium builders, including Stanford as a third-party host adds immediate credibility and provides fellows with an unmatched international experience.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GEMCLIME
  Longest-running engagement (2016-2022) and most keyword-rich, covering economics of climate change, energy policy, mitigation, and consumer behaviour — a rare non-biomedical deep involvement.
• LAMBDA
  Large-scale machine learning and big data analytics training network (2017-2022) reflecting Stanford's core strength in AI and computational methods.
• GreenBubbles
  Unusually interdisciplinary project combining recreational scuba diving, marine conservation, tourism business models, citizen science, and ocean literacy — showcasing Stanford's breadth.