COST Action CA19114 is offering a financial support to eligible applicants to carry out a Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) that will specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of this COST Action. STSMs facilitate scientists going to an institution or laboratory in another country to foster collaboration, to learn a new technique or to take measurements using instruments and/or methods not available in their own institution/laboratory. STSMs are intended especially, but not solely, for young researchers: PhD students and Early Career Investigators (ECI, up to 8 years after award of a PhD).

Deadline for this call: applications may be submitted at any time; however, the STSMs should be completed by 27th September 2022.

General rules

• are described in the COST Vademecum, SECTION 8, pages 31-32 (https://www.cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Vademecum-V8-1-May-20202.pdf),
• STSMs have a minimum duration of 5 calendar days that includes travel; all STSMs have to be finalized prior to 27th September 2022,
• STSM grants are a fixed contribution based on the budget requested by the applicant and the evaluation of the application by the Action Chair/STSM Coordinator/Committee. This grant will not necessarily cover all expenses; it is intended only as a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the participant,
• the calculation of this contribution for a STSM is based on the following rules:
• maximal reimbursement rate per day is EUR 160,
• maximum EUR 3,500 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant.
• Please note that the awarded grant will be paid only after the STSM has been completed and the STSM report has been approved by the Action Chair/STSM Coordinator/Committee.Therefore, the applicants must have approval and prior financial support e.g. from their own institution.

Application procedure

The applicants must »create an account« (in case of new to e-COST) or »log in« into an e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu/user/login and submit their STSM applications on-line following the instructions.

To be filled in e-COST:

• title of the STSM,
• start and end date (within the active Grant Period),
• budget requested by the applicant,
• information about the host institution and contact person.

To be uploaded in e-COST:

• application form (template available on e-COST) describing the Working Plan (goals, description of the work to be carried out by the applicant, expected outcomes and description of the contribution to the Action objectives),
• written agreement of the Host Institution,
• letter of support from the Home Institution,
• CV (2 pages) withlist of publications.

After submitting the STSM on the e-COST profile, please send the PDF files also to the STSM Committee:Dr. Marek Pruszyński (STSM Chair, e-mail: m.pruszynski@ichtj.waw.pl), Dr. Petra Kolenc (STSM Co-Chair, e-mail: petra.kolenc@kclj.si), Dr. Penelope Bouziotis (Committee Member, e-mail: bouzioti@rrp.demokritos.gr), Dr. Andreas Tue Ingemann Jensen (Committee Member, e-mail: atije@dtu.dk). Please send your application to all four Committee Members.

After the STSM

The STSM grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the mission to submit a scientific report to the Action Chair/STSM Coordinator/Committee and senior researcher affiliated to the Host Institution. The report (not more than 10pages) must contain the following information:

• purpose of the STSM,
• description of the work carried during the STSM,
• description of the main results obtained,
• future collaboration with the Host Institution (if applicable),
• foreseen publications/articles resulting from the STSM (if applicable),
• confirmation by the Host Institution of the successful execution of the STSM,
• other comments (if any),
• a short version of this report (500 words), which can be added to the Action homepage.