The MUSCLE Fellowship Programme was launched to enable young scientists to perform research at MUSCLE institutes. The fellowships are available for PhD holders from all over the world. The objective of this Programme is to enable bright young scientists to work collectively on a challenging problem as fellows of leading European research centres. A Fellowship helps widen and intensify the network of personal relations and understanding among scientists. To promote cross-fertilization and cooperation between research groups working in similar areas in different laboratories, the fellow is hosted by two MUSCLE labs for a nine-month period each. The MUSCLE network will each year earmark resources for four or five one-year fellowships. These will be assigned on a competitive basis. When a call for MUSCLE Network Fellows is launched, the profile for this person(s) and the deadline for application will be communicated to the Recruitment Committee and widely advertised. Each application will be reviewed by one or more senior scientists who will take the following elements into c consideration:

• The qualification of the applicant,
• The overlap of interest between the applicant and the hosting institutes,
• The contributions to the MUSCLE workplan.