COST Action CA18125
AERoGELS – Advanced Engineering and Research of (aero)Gels for Environment and Life Sciences
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM)
STSM Flash Call (July-September 2023)
Fourth Grant Period, 1 November 2022 – 31 October 2023
COST Action AERoGELS opens a flash call for applications to STSM to be developed under the scope of the referred Action, in the terms described in this document.
The main procedures/regulations concerning STSM are governed by the Annotated Rules for COST Actions (http://www.cost.eu/Annotated_Rules_for_COST_Actions_C), in particular those described in Section A2-2. Please read this section prior to preparing your STSM application.
Scope of AERoGELS COST Action
AERoGELS COST Action intends to bring together the multidisciplinary knowledge on research and technology of aerogels at the European level, from academia, industry and regulatory experts, in order to further explore their use for environmental and life sciences applications and tackle two of the current main European challenges: circular economy and active ageing. The scope of the Action is to advance the state-of-the art on these topics by joining the efforts of the most renowned experts on cutting-edge aerogel technology, on advanced characterization of materials as well as on biomedical and environmental research. AERoGELS Action will also be a forum to fill the gaps and boost interactions in the trinomial academia-industry-society and to train European young researchers on research, innovation and entrepreneurial skills via, for instance, the STSM exchanges. Finally, these interdisciplinary collaborations are expected to yield innovative and integrated technological solutions for environment and for life sciences, which at long-term will be able to improve the welfare of European people and to move towards cleaner and smarter production in Europe.
For further details and specific objectives, please read the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of AERoGELS COST Action at: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA18125/ or https://cost-aerogels.eu/
Purpose of a STSM
STSM are exchange visits to support individual mobility, strengthen existing networks and foster collaboration between COST Action Participants. A STSM should specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of the COST Action, whilst simultaneously allowing those partaking in the missions to learn new techniques, gain access to specific data, instruments and/or methods not available in their own institutions.
Eligibility criteria
The institution/organisation or legal entity where applicants pursue their main strand of research are considered here as Home Institutions. The Host Institution is the institution/organisation that will host the approved applicant.
The following eligibility criteria apply for the definition of the possible applicants and the host institutions.
- STSM applicants must be engaged in an official research programme as a PhD Student, be a postdoctoral fellow or employed by (or affiliated to) an institution, organisation or legal entity which has within its remit a clear association with research, and propose a mission scenario according to the terms in (b);
- The possible STSM Home and Host Institutions must be framed in the scenarios summarized in the following table.
| Applicant’s Home Institution | STSM Host Institution |
| Located in a Participating COST Full Member/COST Cooperating Member | Located in another Participating COST Full Member/ COST Cooperating Member Located in a Participating COST Partner Member An Approved International Partner Country Institution An Approved NNC Institution The EU Commission or a EU Body, Office or Agency An Approved European RTD Organisation An Approved International Organisation |
| Action MC observer from a NNC Institution | Located in a Participating COST Full Member/ COST Cooperating Member |
| Located in an Approved European RTD Organisation | Located in a Participating COST Full Member/ COST Cooperating Member |
Other important criteria for the STSM mobility are:
- The STSM needs to be carried out in their entirety within a single Grant Period and always within the Action’s lifetime;
- The COST Association and the Grant Holder of the Action cannot to be considered as being an STSM grantee’s employer, i.e. the STSM Grant cannot be considered as a salary;
- STSM grantees should make their own arrangements for all provisions related to personal security, health, taxation, social security and pension matters.
Period of STSM and application deadlines (VERY IMPORTANT)
The period of STSM should be completely framed between July and September of 2023 and should not have a duration of more than two weeks. The STSM should be finished the latest by 30 September 2023. The following dates for the submission and notification of results of STSM proposals will apply in this flash call:
| Cut-off moment | Applications deadline | Notification of results |
| Unique date | 12 June 2023 | 26 June 2023 |
Funding
The number of STSM grants that will be funded is six (6).
An STSM Grant is a fixed financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the STSM application. Please note that STSM Grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to undertaking a given mission, being only a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the Grantee. Applicants are encouraged to evaluate their budget request based on a high benefit/cost ratio and justify it based on the perceived cost of living in the host country/city.
Section A2-3 of the Annotated Rules for COST Actions defines a maximum limit EUR 4000 of financial support for each STSM, which should not be disregarded in any circumstance.
Application Procedure
The application procedure is legally bound to the Annotated Rules for COST Actions. Eligible STSM applicants must submit their STSM applications online at the following web address: https://e-services.cost.eu/stsm
Prior to this submission, it is the responsibility of the applicant to obtain a written agreement from the Home and Host institutions stating that the applicant may perform the activities detailed in the STSM work plan on the agreed dates. Templates for these declarations can be found at https://cost-aerogels.eu/activities/short-term-scientific-missions/templates. Moreover, STSM applicants should be also registered at the Action website: https://cost-aerogels.eu/join-us/; and at the Action form in COST website: https://e-services.cost.eu/action/CA18125/working-groups/apply
The following information is needed for the on-line application form: i. Action number (CA18125); ii. Title of the planned STSM; iii. Start and end dates of the STSM; iv. Applicant’s details, including academic profile and workplan; v. Applicant’s bank details; vi. Host institution details; vii. Requested budget.
Selection committee
A scientific committee – STSM Committee – composed by the STSM Coordinator, the Action Vice-Chair and the Work Group leaders will evaluate all the STSM proposals and define a seriation for the attribution of the grants. In case of conflict of interest, the member that is constrained in his duties should designate a substitute (the Action Chair or the respective Work Group vice-leader).
Applications assessment and communication of results
The STSM Committee will perform the scientific assessment of the applications considering the AERoGELS Action scope, as well as the linking of the work plan with several Working Groups’ objectives and the potential for enhancement of the research interaction between the involved parts, measured by the impact of the exchange expected by the applicants and involved institutions. Moreover, a tentative goal of 10% of STSMs attributed to the industrial members is set, along with promoting of gender balance, enabling researchers with PhD degree up to 40 years of age and PhD students, and broadening geographical inclusiveness.
The more specific criteria listed in the next table will be considered for the 4th Grant Period. The evaluation will return a value between 0 and a maximum of 15 points. These points will be divided between the assessment of the work plan quality and STSM framework (10 points) and the applicant’s CV (5 points). The CV template that should be followed can be downloaded from the site of the Action (https://cost-aerogels.eu/activities/short-term-scientific-missions/templates).
Once approved by the STSM Coordinator (or the Action Vice-Chair, in case of conflict of interest), she will inform the Grant Holder of the approved STSM, who will inform each approved applicant by sending a Grant Letter generated from e-COST. The applicant must return this letter of acceptance with his/her signature.
| 1. STSM workplan: max. of 10 points | 2. Curriculum Vitæ of the applicant: max. of 5 points |
|---|---|
| 1.1 Scientific quality, alignment with Action objectives, expected impact: up to 5 points 1.2. ITC participant outgoing: 2 points 1.3. Work plan linked to topics of Work Groups 4 or/and 5: 1 point 1.4. Academia-industry STSM: 2 points | 2.1 Young researcher or industry collaborator: 2 points 2.2 Co-author of at least 2 JCR§-articles: 1 point 2.3 Co-author of at least 15 JCR§-articles: 1 point 2.4 No research stays under CA18125: 1 point §JCR – Journal of Citation Reports – Clarivate. |
STSM reporting and Payment
The STSM Grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the mission to submit a scientific report to the STSM Coordinator (in any case no later than 23 of October of 2023), along with a proof of evidence of the stay (i.e. some pictures of the trainee working at the host institution facilities). Moreover, a written confirmation by a senior researcher affiliated to the Host Institution regarding the successful achievement of the objectives of the STSM and approval of the scientific report is also necessary. A template for this document can be found at https://cost-aerogels.eu/activities/short-term-scientific-missions/templates
Please note that failure to submit the scientific report, the proof of evidence of the stay and the Host Approval of the scientific report within 30 days will effectively cancel the grant.
The template of the scientific report can be downloaded at http://www.cost.eu/STSM_report_template; it includes:
- Purpose of the STSM and framing in the AERoGELS Action;
- Description of the activities carried out during the mission;
- Summary of relevant results;
- Future collaborations, including forthcoming publications resulting from the developed work and/or joint project proposals agreed during the stay.
The payment of the Grant is subjected to the approval of the STSM scientific report by the STSM Committee, on behalf of the Action’s MC, and the final decision is uploaded in e-COST by the STSM Coordinator. Based on this, the Grant Holder will execute the payment of the grant directly to the grantee or the host institution as requested in the application.
STSM contact
| Prof. Dr. Luisa Durães – CA18125 STSM Coordinator Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Technology University of Coimbra, Portugal luisa@eq.uc.pt | Prof. Dr. Carlos García-González – CA18125 Action Chair Dept. of Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain carlos.garcia@usc.es |
