Name of the programme and of the thematic/horizontal area:
COST Call for Research Networks Centered Around National Projects

Information on funding

Programme:
COST

Specification/themes:
General

Budget for the call:
EUR 250 million

Publication Date:
05/02/2011 09:00

Deadline:
25/03/2011 17:00

Short introduction to the programme / what is it about? How may WBC participate?:

COST invites researchers throughout Europe to submit proposals for research networks and use this unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and to embark on new European perspectives. A continuous Open Call for Proposals is used to attract the best proposals for new COST Actions which are the networks centred around nationally funded research projects in fields that are of interest to at least five COST countries. The financial support averages EUR 74 000 per year for a four-year period.

The support will cover the costs of networking activities such as meetings (e.g. travel, subsistence, local organiser support), conferences, workshops, short-term scientific exchanges, training schools, publications and dissemination activities. COST does not fund the research itself.

COST is organised in nine broad Domains (Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences; Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Technologies; Earth System Science and Environmental Management; Food and Agriculture; Forests, their Products and Services; Individuals, Society, Culture and Health; Information and Communication Technologies; Materials, Physical and Nanosciences; Transport and Urban Development). Proposers are invited to locate their topic within one Domain. In addition, Trans-Domain Proposals allow for broad, multidisciplinary proposals to strike across the nine scientific domains.

The Open Call follows a two-stage process whereby applicants, after registering, submit a preliminary proposal by a set collection date. This preliminary proposal provides an overview of the proposed Action's goal and its foreseen impact. After assessment, approximately 80 of these preliminary proposals are selected for the second phase. Successful applicants are then invited to submit a full proposal. COST is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology, allowing the coordination of nationally-funded research on a European level. COST contributes to reducing the fragmentation in European research investments and opening the European Research Area to cooperation worldwide.

The goal of COST is to ensure that Europe holds a strong position in the field of scientific and technical research for peaceful purposes, by increasing European cooperation and interaction in this field. This research initiative makes it possible for the various national facilities, institutes, universities and private industry to work jointly on a wide range of Research and Development (R&D) activities.

WBC Participation to COST

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia as COST Member States and  Albania and Montenegro as Non-COST 'near neighbouring countries'  are eligible for this call.

More details on the call: Major information on administrative issues (e.g. type of entities which are eligible, consortium structure, budget for the call, etc. (a. 1000 characters):

COST is based on Actions. These are networks of coordinated national research projects in fields, which are of interest to a minimum number of participants (at least 5) from different member states. The Actions are defined by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Governments of the COST states wishing to participate in the Action. The duration of an Action is generally 4 years.

COST funding is basically used to cover co-ordination costs such as contributions to workshops/conferences, travel costs for meetings, contributions to publications and short term scientific missions of researchers to visit other laboratories.

There are various steps to follow to join or initiate a COST Action. It mainly depends on the location of the institution.

For institutions from the 36 COST countries:

a) If your country has not yet accepted the Action's Memorandum of Understanding:

* contact your CNC who can launch your country's participation procedure in the relevant Action (only possible if national funding for the Actions’ activity is available). Once done, the CNC can officially nominate you as a representative of your country to the MC committee.
* it is also recommended that you inform the Chair of the Action of your interest.

b) If your country has already accepted the Action's Memorandum of Understanding,

- but has not yet nominated 2 representatives:

* contact your COST National Coordinator (CNC) who can officially nominate you as a representative of your country to the Management Committee (MC).
* it is also recommended that you inform the Chair of the Action of your interest.

- and has already nominated 2 representatives:

* contact the Action Chair for possible nomination by the Management Committee (MC) to a Working Group (WG).

For institutions from non-COST countries:

Scientists from non-COST countries can be reimbursed from the Action's budget under the condition that the scientist has been formally invited as an “invited expert” for a specific meeting.

Furthermore, researchers from non-COST country institutions can participate in COST Actions on the basis of mutual benefit (see Vademecum – Non-COST Institutions), to be approved by the JAF on a case-by-case basis. The COST Office does not reimburse participants from non-COST country institutions except in the case of formally approved institutions from Near Neighbour countries and provided funds are available.

Non-COST 'near neighbouring countries' are Balkan countries (Albania, Montenegro); Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, The Palestinian Authority, Syria and Tunisia) and Eastern European countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine).

In addition, COST has signed reciprocal agreements with Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa for their institutions to participate in COST Actions. Detailed information is available on the reciprocal agreements page.

Further information on the programme (e.g. links to programme website, Rules for Participation, Financial Guidelines, etc.):

For further information please visit

http://www.cost.esf.org/

http://www.cost.esf.org/participate/open_call

Contact/additional support (e.g. Helpdesk, contact to NCPs in your country, partnering websites if available, further related links, etc.):

You can find additional support through

Open Call Contacts
General enquiries and technical problems

opencall@cost.eu