Note: Only scientists who presented their innovations in an elevator pitch session are eligible for STSMs and other grants.
Contents
STSM
Purpose of a STSM
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) are exchange visits to support individual mobility, strengthen existing networks, and foster collaboration between COST countries. A STSM should specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of the CIG ECO-AERoGELS, 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. STSM is a concept of particular interest to young scientists (PhD students and Post-docs).
STSM should contribute to an increase in the technology readiness level (TRL) of an innovation.
An STSM Grant is a financial contribution that takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant, the available budget, 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. The maximum limit of financial support for each STSM is EUR 4000.
Eligibility criteria
Scientists with projects/innovations directly related to the implementation of CIG ECO-AERoGELS will be considered for funding. Applicants must be affiliated to a legal entity in a COST Full/Cooperating Country or EU RTD or NNC country. The host institution must be a COST Full/Cooperating country intrinsically involved in the CIG. Applicants must have presented innovations in an elevator pitch session and their innovation was pre-approved by the selection committee.
For the general criteria refer to the COST AERoGELS page https://cost-aerogels.eu/activities/short-term-scientific-missions/
Application procedure
Applicants must submit their application on the e-COST portal.
For guidelines on submitting on the eCOST portal, please consult the PDF guide available at https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2021/12/Grant-Awarding-userguide.pdf
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. The templates necessary for the application (ECO-AERoGELS-CV-template, Template-of-written-agreement-from-Home-institution and Template-of-written-agreement-from-Host-institution) can be found at the bottom of this page (bottom of web address https://cost-aerogels.eu/eco-aerogels/stsms/).
Application assessment
The STSM Committee will assess the applications considering the ECO-AERoGELS Action scope, the linking of the work plan with several Working Groups’ objectives, the potential enhancement of the research interaction between the involved parties, the possible participation of industrial members, the gender balance and the geographical inclusiveness.
After the STSM
The STSM Grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the mission to submit a scientific report to the STSM Coordinator, 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 with the Host Institution regarding the successful achievement of the objectives of the STSM and approval of the scientific report is also necessary.
The proof template (Template-of-Host-Institutions-approval-of-STSM-end) can be found at the bottom of this page (bottom of web address https://cost-aerogels.eu/eco-aerogels/stsms/).
The template of the scientific report can be downloaded at https://www.cost.eu/STSM_Report
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 payment of the Grant is subjected to the approval of the STSM scientific report by the STSM Committee.
Dissemination Conference Grant
Purpose of a Dissemination Conference Grant
Dissemination Conference consists in an oral presentation by an Action Participant of the work of the Action in high-level conferences fully organized by a third party, i.e. not organized nor co-organized by the COST Action. This tool aims at increasing visibility of the Action and of the presenter in the research community, attracting additional participants and disseminating Action results.
A Dissemination Conference Grant is a financial contribution that takes into consideration the duration and location of the conference and the actual conference fee. Please note that Dissemination Conference Grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to participating to a given conference. The maximum limit of financial support for each Dissemination Conference Grant is EUR 2000 for face-to-face conferences and EUR 500 for virtual conferences.
Eligibility criteria
Applicants must be Action Participant and must be affiliated to a legal entity in a COST Full/Cooperating Country.
Application procedure
Applicants must have presented their innovations in an elevator pitch session.
Presentation of the innovation at a conference was pre-approved by a selection committee during an elevator pitch session.
Applicants must submit their application on the e-COST portal.
For guidelines on submitting on the eCOST portal, please consult the PDF guide available at https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2021/12/Grant-Awarding-userguide.pdf
After the Dissemination Conference Grant
The Grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the conference to submit to the Action MC:
a report on the outcome of the presentation, contacts made and potential for future collaborations; (ii) the certificate of attendance; (iii) the program of the conference or book of abstracts / proceedings indicating the oral presentation of the grantee; (iv) a copy of the given presentation
The template of the report can be downloaded at: http://www.cost.eu/DisseminationConference_Report
Failure to submit the requested documents within 30 days will effectively cancel the grant. The payment of the Grant is subjected to the approval of the report by the Action MC.
Other grants: Elevator Pitch Session Grant
Purpose of the Elevator Pitch Session
The purpose of the Elevator pitch session is to elevate concise and compelling presentation skills (under 5 minutes) regarding aerogel-based materials innovations that are under the scope of ECO-AERoGELS. The pitch session will enable dissemination and communication of the innovations to the ECO-AERoGELS community, identification of the most promising innovations, and giving support for an increase in the Technological Readiness Level (TRL).
Applicants can be called to present their innovation at an elevator pitch session in person (with or without refunded travel expenses) or online.
Eligibility criteria
- All members of the ECO-AERoGELS community are eligible to participate in the call.
- Only innovations that are in alignment with ECO-AERoGELS objectives will be considered.
- Only innovations that have TRL of at least 3 will be considered.
Funding
The number of attributed grants for Financial support will be defined during the elevator pitch
session, according to the relevance of the proposed work plans to contribute to the accomplishment of
technological and balance indicator outputs of the ECO-AERoGELS.
Please note that Financial Support 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.
Section A2-3 of the Annotated Rules for COST Actions defines a maximum limit of EUR 4000 of
financial support for each mission grant, which should not be disregarded in any circumstance.
Application Procedure
The application precedure is legally bound to the Annotated Rules for COST Actions.
Eligible applicants must submit their applications (Abstract-template and CV-template) online at the following web address: https://e-services.cost.eu . The Abstract-template and CV-template can be found at the bottom of the following web address https://cost-aerogels.eu/eco-aerogels/stsms/
The procedure for the application through e-COST is performed in several steps:
- Go to e-COST => your profile => COST Actions => Grant Applications
- Please carefully read the Grant Awarding User Guide
https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2021/12/Grant-Awarding-userguide.pdf - Click on the blue button “Apply for grant”
For further steps in the application procedure, contact the Grant Awarding Coordinator.
Selection Committee
A scientific committee, composed of Action Chair, Action Vice-Chair, and Grant Awarding Coordinator, will evaluate all the proposals received via the e-COST platform.
At the Elevator Pitch Session, three industrial partners will select the most promising innovations.
In the case of conflict of interest, the member who is constrained in his/her duties will not evaluate this candidacy.
Applications assessment and communication of results
The assessment will be carried out in two stages: a first stage resulting in a pool of candidates who will participate in the elevator pitch session, and a second stage where the grants will be attributed after the presentations and discussions in the said session. The scientific committee will evaluate all the proposals and invite via e-COST platform the applicants with promising results to present (either in person or online) their innovations at the elevator pitch session. At the Elevator Pitch Session, the selection committee will award the most promising innovations with grants that should enable innovators to increase TRL or disseminate results. Financial Support is associated with maturing innovation and ultimately elaboration of a business plan. The Selection Committee will perform the innovation assessment of the applications considering the ECO-AERoGELS scope, as well as the link to the work plan with several Working Groups’ objectives.
The Grantee has until one month after the end of the grant and never later than 30 th September 2024 to
Claim Expenses through eCOST (https://e-services.cost.eu/user/login). Submissions after the
established date will effectively cancel the grant payment.
