According to the Annotated rules for COST Actions, each Action provides numerous networking activities organised through a Grant Awarding Process. Hmm, what exactly is meant by this?
Networking activities organised through a Grant Awarding Process encompass mobility of researchers and
innovators and presentation at conferences organised by third parties. Simply put, the COST Action provides funding for travel, learning, dissemination, and networking. These schemes can be organised in a variety of ways, including Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs), Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) Conferences or Dissemination
Conferences. Below is a brief explanation of each option so that you, as members of MultiplEYE, know the options and which ones to apply for if you are eligible!
About STSMs
Short Term Scientific Missions are exchange visits aimed at supporting individual mobility, strengthening existing networks and fostering collaboration between researchers. The aim of an STSM as defined by COST Annotated Rules is to contribute to the scientific objectives of the COST Action. These Missions aim at strengthening the existing COST Actions by allowing scientists to go to an institution or laboratory in another COST country to foster collaboration, to learn a new technique, or methods of conducting an experiment using tools/instruments/procedures not available in their own institution/laboratory.
Typically, there are several open calls for STSMs during the Action’s Grant period (for MultiplEYE, the Grant period is from October to October). Some of the calls are more specific, which is necessary when leaders feel that something specific should be done through collaborative efforts that will benefit the Action.
On the other hand, some calls are more general and applicants are freer to decide whom to visit and what type of activities to undertake.
Details on how to apply, i.e., the process and required documentation, can be found on our website.
Calls for applications are always announced on the web, and distributed through email and various channels such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Slack.
Do not hesitate, apply!
Contact the potential host and organize a visit!
About ITC Conferences
ITC Conference Grants are another great option to look into! This type of grant provides financial support to young researchers and innovators affiliated in an
Inclusiveness Target Country / Near Neighbour Country for their participation in high-level conferences. Grantees receive support to attend a conference and present their work (poster/oral presentation), and can make new contacts for future collaborations. These calls do not have to be announced. You can apply at any time! Just visit
our website to check the necessary requirements, log in to the e-COST system, upload the documents and submit the application. We will review it and give
you an answer as soon as possible.
Who manages these procedures?
The processes described above are usually handled by the Grant Awarding Coordinator of the Action, which in the case of MultiplEYE is Ana Matić Škorić. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher working at the Department of Speech and Language Pathology, University of Zagreb, in the Laboratory for Psycholinguistic Research. With an MA in Speech and Language Pathology and a PhD in Linguistics, research enthusiasm and passion for psycholinguistics, and finally with experience in eye-tracking, she sees great potential for this Action and feel very honoured to be an active member of the working groups and the Core Group.
In addition to the work in the working groups, her role as the Grant Awarding Coordinator is to manage and distribute the calls for proposals, contact potential hosts, communicate with the Chair, the Vice Chair and the Grant Manager of the Action, calculate funding, manage the e-COST system, review applications, send feedback, and be in close contact with each applicant to ensure that grants are awarded as smoothly as possible. Her goal is to ensure that the grant benefits both the applicant and the Action. You can contact her at any time by email at: ana.matic@erf.unizg.hr
The Action will be around for
some time, so why not work,
enjoy, and seize the
opportunities?