STSM Call for Grant Period 5

NEP4DISSENT (COST Action 16213) is pleased to announce the call for Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM) for Grant Period 5 to support the Research Coordination and Capacity Building Objectives of the Action.

Conditions set in this call follow the COST Association guidelines described in ANNEX 2 of the Annotated Rules for Cost Actions (ARCA). In case of discrepancies, the ARCA shall be decisive.

WHAT ARE STSMs?

Short-Term Scientific Mission consists in a visit of a host organization located in a different country than the country of affiliation by a Researcher or Innovator for the specific work to be carried out and for a determined period of time.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Individual researchers and innovators from COST Member Countries and Near Neighbor Countries (NNC) who signed the Memorandum of Understanding of this Action. For details see section 6.4 of the ARCA.

DEADLINES AND HOW TO APPLY

The deadline for submitting applications is Thursday, 3 February 2022.

Activities supported by the STSM grant must be completed until 1 April 2022, in order to allow orderly reporting. Special cases will be considered.

To file the STSM Grant application please go to: https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants. Click on “Apply for grant” and select “Short-Term Scientific Mission grant.”

You will need to provide following information:

Action Number (CA16213) and STSM Title
Proposed duration of your STSM
Proposal
Host details
Budget request*

* The in calculating the budget request please take into consideration COST daily allowance rates, as well as considerably economic means of travel to your host institution.

The proposal should clearly refer to the implementation agenda of a specific NEP4DISSENT Working Group, in order to be submitted for evaluation of the relevant WG Chair.

Following supporting documents will be requested:

Application form (template available on e-COST) describing: Goals, description of the work to be carried out by the applicant, expected outcomes and description of the contribution to the Action MoU objectives;
Written confirmation of the host on the agreement from the host institution in receiving the applicant (a letter)
NOTE THAT LETTER FROM THE HOME INSTITUTION IS NO LONGER REQUIRED

In order to enable smooth processing of your applications, please make sure that dates and institutional details indicated in the e-COST application form, the home and the host institution support letters are the same. In all three cases, please make sure specific dates are indicated (e.g. from 4 to 14 July 2019, rather than “in the month of July”).

Please consult this guide for the details of the application process.

EVALUATION

Applications will be evaluated by the Action’s Core Group acting as the STSM Award Committee.

The Committee will take into account the scientific merit of each application in correspondence with the Aim of the Call, as well as the formal criteria explained below. The Committee will take effort to maintain parity between applicants from different NEP4DISSENT Working Groups. The Committee reserves the right to modify the financial conditions of the STSM requests. When justified, the Committee will consider applications that are bound to start before this Call’s deadline.

STSM GRANT CONDITIONS

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. STSM Grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to undertaking a given mission. A STSM Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the Grantee. The final amount of financial contribution is decided by the Award Committee after reviewing all the applications, and it is subject to the available budget.

Up to 4000 EUR can be awarded per grant. When evaluating the request, the Award Committee take into consideration COST daily allowance rates, as well as considerably economic means of travel to your host institution.

You can request a 50 % pre-payment of the STSM Grant. Grant Holder will consider these requests on case by case basis, but in general the request will be accepted in very special cases.

REPORTING AND APPROVAL FOR PAYMENT

The grantee submits the required reports in 30 calendar days from the completion of the STSM Grant, or in 15 days after the end of Grant Period (15 April 2022), whichever date comes first.

For the report the grantee uses the relevant template provided in e-COST. The report describes:

work developed
main outcomes and outputs
future follow up collaboration (if any)

Grant payment will be processed once the report is accepted.

CONTINGENCY PLANNING IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19

Please consider following guidelines, and in particular:

postpone making the travel arrangements for as late as possible
choose flights and accommodation that are cancellable (calculate that option in your budget)
buy travel cancellation insurance (it is eligible)
check the restrictions 48 hours before the event.
Provisions related to Force majeure impacting travel are described in detail in section 1.3.1.6 of Annex 1 of the ARCA.

All queries regarding STSM grants should be directed to info@nep4dissent.eu.

Procedural and financial questions should be directed to NEP4DISSENT Grant Manager Gabriela Semenowicz (gabriela.semenowicz@ibl.waw.pl).