ITC Conference grants

Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC) Conference Grants

Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC) Conference Grants are Conference Grants are aimed at supporting PhD students and ECI researchers from Participating ITC (Inclusiveness Target Country) to attend international science and technology related conferences not specifically organised by the COST Action.

Grants are available for PhD students and early-career investigators from ITCs for attending high-level international scientific conferences that are not specifically organised by COST-ARKWORK.

The COST Inclusiveness Target Countries are: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, and Turkey. A current list of ITCs can be found at http://www.cost.eu/about_cost/strategy/excellence-inclusiveness

The following eligibility criteria applies:

  • Conference Grants are exclusively reserved for PhD students and ECI’s with a primary affiliation in an institution located in an ITC.
  • The applicant must make an oral/poster presentation at the conference in question and must be listed in the official event/conference programme. The main subject of the oral presentation / poster presentation / speech at the approved conference must be on the topic of the Action and must acknowledge COST (see COST Vademecum Section 8).
  • The participation of each applicant must be pre-approved by the Action MC. Attendance at European conferences is preferred. However, conferences held elsewhere can also be considered.
  • Applications that state a clear contribution to the specific aims of the action are prioritised similarly to applications concerning the presentation of outcomes of collaborative multi-disciplinary (i.e. with co-authors/collaborators representing different scientific and scholarly disciplines) research.

Detailed information on the eligibility of applicants, evaluation and selection, financial support, and grant payment procedures can be found in Section 8 of the COST Vademecum.

Financial support

A Conference Grant is a fixed financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the application by the delegated person(s). Conference Grants do not necessarily cover all of the expenses related to participating in a given conference. A Conference Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the selected Grantee. The financial contribution is calculated using the following criteria:

  • 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 addition, when meal and accommodation expenses are supported by the hosting institution as part of the provisions offered in their conference package, the amount for subsistence afforded to each eligible participant must be deducted from the Grant. Documentary evidence of the conference fee amount must be provided by the applicant.

Applications

For the year 2017, due to the late inclusion of this tool in the budget plan and as an exception, applications for conferences until April 2018 can be submitted until December 31, 2017. Only those applications send using e-COST system at https://e-services.cost.eu are considered for grants. A user guide for the procedure is available at http://www.cost.eu/module/download/inclusiveness_target_countries_conference_userguide

The application must contain the following information:

Applicant details, including:

  • Home institution
  • Degree level
  • Year awarded

Conference details, including:

  • Title
  • Webpage (if available)
  • Start and end date
  • Number of conference days attended
  • Venue
  • City
  • Country

Supporting documents:

  • CV
  • A short description of your involvement in COST-ARKWORK
  • Abstract acceptance letter/e-mail from the conference organisers
  • A copy of the abstract/poster/paper submitted to the conference

In addition to sending the application using e-COST, send the same information as e-mail attachment to the Action Chair (prof. Isto Huvila, [email protected]) and the STSM coordinator Dr. Theodora Moullou ([email protected]).

Acknowledgements

If the grant is approved then you are kindly requested to acknowledge the support provided by COST Association and COST-ARKWORK.

You are also requested to use the COST Association and COST-ARKWORK logos in your acknowledgement.

Report

After the conference, the conference participant is required to file (using e-COST) a report written in the template provided below within 30 days after the end of the conference.

Documents