The COST Association has increased our budget and introduced a new networking tool “The Conference Grants”.
Conference grants (CG) help PhD students and early-career investigators1 from participating Inclusiveness Target Countries attend international science and technology related conferences that are NOT specifically organised by a COST Action.
Action CA16101 is now launching the call for conference grant application, until dedicated budget exhaustion. Applications need to be made 45 days in advance of the conference event and budget needs to be spent by the end of Grant Period 1 (30th April 2018).
- Up to a maximum of EUR 2 500 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant;
- Up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses.
- Up to a maximum of EUR 500 can be claimed for the conference fees to be incurred by the selected Grantee.
In order to start an application apply, the applicant encodes a CG application by logging into e-COST and clicking on the ITC Conference Grants tab and fills in the requested fields. This implies that applicants must register a profile with e-COST. Information on the process to follow to submit an application can be found in Section 3 of the new user guide.
Detailed information on participants’ eligibility, evaluation and selection, financial support, and grant payment procedures can be found in Section 8 of the COST Vademecum.
Evaluation of the applications will be undertaken by the Chair of the Action’s MC Dr Simona Francese Sheffield Hallam University, UK (s.francese@shu.ac.uk).
The Management Committee has decided that evaluation will be made case by case on the following criteria:
- Scientific scope of the proposed mission and how the mission can support the Action in achieving its scientific objectives.
- Demonstration of appropriate networking opportunities to support the Action in achieving its scientific objectives.
- Gender balance (when possible)
Payment of the GRANT is subjected to the submission of the report within 30 days from the end date of the Conference in question
1 Early Career Investigators (ECI) defines a researcher whose career spun less than 8 years between the date of the PhD/doctorate (or similar experience) and the date of involvement in the COST Action. Periods of career leave have to be added to this time span.