The assessment was completed in June 2005 after two years of work. The Consortium evaluated the fellowships of the 4th and 5th Framework Programme only.  The extensive evaluation concluded (among others) that:

• Overall - Marie Curie Fellowships are one of the most important opportunities for European researchers who wish to spend some time in a European country different than their own to develop research skills.
• Mobility - 79% of fellows reported that a major reason in applying for the fellowship was to gain international experience. 28% of respondents said that they would definitely not have gone abroad without the Marie Curie fellowship.
• Mobility - The UK was the most popular host country (28% of all fellows), followed by France (17%), Germany (12%), the Netherlands (9%) and Spain and Italy (6% each). Certain countries received more fellows than went abroad. In proportion to the scientific work force per country, this was notably the case for the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway.
• Employment - Over 90% of respondents to the survey had remained in Europe after the end of the fellowship. 90% of respondents who had had either a post-graduate or a post-doctoral Marie Curie fellowship were still active in paid research at the time of answering the questionnaire.

The Marie Curie fellowships allow for European researchers to gain experience in a host institution in a different European country. As such, they contribute to creating links and increasing cohesion in the European Research Area. Many fellows and supervisors spoke of how the fellowship contributes to creating a ‘scientific European identity’.