General information

Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC 1) Conference grant is a COST networking tool which supports PhD students and Early Career Investigators (ECI 2), affiliated with an institution located in an ITC country participating in the Action or Ukraine, to attend the international conferences, related to the field of the Action (MoU). The applicant must be engaged in an official research programme as a PhDStudent or postdoctoral fellow.

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 persons (Core Group). Conference Grants do not necessarily cover all 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 calculation of the financial contribution for each Conference Grant must respect the following criteria:

  • Up to a maximum of EUR 500 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant.
  • Up to a maximum of EUR 160/day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses.

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 and must be archived by the Grant Holder along with the relevant administrative documents.

Applying for ITC Conference Grants

In order to apply for the ITC Conference Grant you must set up e-COST profile, then login to your e-COST profile and select from the menu the COST Action/Grant application/ button: +apply for grant.

To submit a new application, the applicant presses the button ‘ITC Conference Grant’.

The detailed user guide is available here.

The application form contains the following items:

  • Applicant’s details (Full name, Affiliation, Country, ECI or PhD student, etc.).
  • Conference Grant details (action number, conference title, grant period, conference start and end date).
  • Bank details.
  • Financial support (amount in travel, amount for subsistence for meals and accommodation up to maximum of EUR 160/day, conference fee, total amount).
  • Supporting documents.

Supporting documents that need to be submitted are:

  • CV (including a list of academic publications – if applicable).
  • Acceptance letter from the conference organizers (confirming either your speaking slot or your poster presentation).
  • A copy of the abstract or poster submitted to the conference.
  • Scientific Report (to be submitted at the latest 30 days after the end date of the Conference).
  • How the action has helped me in my research and personal comment about the ITC grants (outreach and dissemination purposes).

General COST Application Rules:

  • The applicant must make an oral/poster presentation at the conference and must be listed in the official conference programme. The main subject of the oral/poster presentation at the approved conference must be on the topic of the Action and must acknowledge COST.
  • The participation of each applicant must be pre-approved by the Action Core Group – ITC grant coordinator, dr Karel Douda or Chair of Management Committee.

Evaluation

The Conference Grants Coordinator performs the evaluation of each Conference Grant application in consultance with Core Group. The tasks include: evaluate applications, approve or reject these applications in e-cost, evaluate the scientific report after the mission, post-approve or reject the report.

The Grant Holder monitors the incoming approved applications, determines the amount of the Grant taking into account the request, but also the available budget, sends the successful applicants their Grant Notification and ensures that all grants are paid within the deadline of 30 days.

Approving ITC Conference Grants for Payment

1 day and 15 days after the end of the participation in the conference, the grantee receives a reminder to upload the scientific report (template available at e-COST/conference grants site) and the certificate of attendance. The deadline to submit the last supporting document is 30 days from the end of the participation in the conference. The submission of the report is mandatory or the Grant is cancelled.

List of conferences:

List of conferences that are in line with the Action’s aims and objectives eligible to be supported by COST ITC Conference Grants. Please note that the list is not exhaustive and will be expanded as appropriate.

  • ICCB conference (July 2023 Rwanda)
  • Conference in Cambridge 5th – 8th September, 2023 “Mussels. Where are we going?”
  • Hof Conference 26-28 April 2023
  • Symposium for European Freshwater Sciences (SEFS13), Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 18 – 23 June 2023
  • FMCS meeting in Portland April 2023

1 – ITCs: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia and Turkey.
2 – Early Career Investigator – An individual who is within a time span of up to 8 years from the date they obtained their PhD/doctorate (full-time equivalent).