Hi everyone, I have been searching for a PhD for a while now, and finally found one that I really like, and that is in accordance with the research project I recently wrote, and got awarded a small stipend for. So I have two questions for you:

1. How competitive are MSCA (Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions) PhD funding. I was trying to find at least a fuzzy concept of average MSCA PhD fellow, but couldn't find too much information online. Or any experiences. So I was wondering did anyone of you got it ?

2. In your opinion would I even stand a chance as I have finished med school in Eastern Europe with ECTS grade C (which is equivalent to Lower Second Class), but was in top 20/120 students in my class? I didn't get to do a lot of research (only first three years of pre-clinic) as well, but was awarded French government scholarship for one of my proposals.

I really don't feel like wasting time and precious references as I understand that my CV is not really Ivy league material.
Really looking forward to your replys.

All the best to you guys ! And good luck everyone on PhD hunt :)

So nobody ?

1. Don't know. I assume competitive. Don't know anyone that has one.

2. Don't know. There might be priority to certain countries? I assume different grading systems are taken into account.

My advice is apply anyway, yes it takes time but you won't get anything if you don't apply for anything.

This is not a great attitude for a prospective PhD student to have.

Yes, I understand that might not be the best choice of words. What I meant was that I would hate to spend time pursuing impossible (like Ivy League) as I do not have the right CV for that, while I could be applying to PhDs I could actually get.

Yes, thank you for taking your time to reply. I will try and do it.

OK fair enough.
Your problem however is your 2:2.
With such a weak degree classification you may well find it difficult to get in anywhere and if you do get in you might well find it even harder to cope with the intellectual challenge which results from starting a PhD from a very low academic baseline.
You should consider perhaps a postgrad Masters degree in my opinion. That might allow you to develop a stronger baseline. This forum is full of people with excellent undergrad degrees who struggle with PhDs. Dont feel bad about this. It is pretty much the exact route I had to take for the same reason so I am speaking from personal experience. You need to make your own choices though.

Thank you for this honest opinion. I will try this route as well. However I have to disagree with you that better grades necessarily mean that you will struggle less with PhD. There are too many other factors grades can not measure, but I can also understand why would you say this.

You are certainly welcome to disagree but given that a PhD is supposed to be first and foremost an intensely intellectual pursuit I would be interested to know what other skills you think could adequately compensate for a lack of a good academic starting position.