Conference Grants

Apply HERE

What are ITC Conference Grants?

Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) Conference Grants are aimed at supporting Early Career Investigators (ECIs: up to 8 years after completing a PhD degree) and PhD students from Participating ITCs to attend international science and technology related conferences, event or activity on the topic of the Action that are not organised by the COST Action.

Who can apply?

Conference Grants are exclusively reserved for PhD candidates, post-doc researchers and all other ECIs with a primary affiliation in an institution located in an ITC participating in the Action.

The following countries are considered ITC: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Your participation must be pre-approved by the Action Management Committee.

Please note that the awarded grant will be paid only after attending the Conference – therefore you must have approval and prior financial support e.g., from you own institution. (The reimbursement can be paid either to a private or to an institutional account, should the institution give prior financial support.)

What is expected from you?

You must make an oral/poster presentation at the conference in question and you must be listed in the official event/conference programme. The main subject of your oral presentation / poster presentation / speech at the approved conference must be on the topic of the Action and must acknowledge COST support.

What can you apply for?

A Conference Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses, and does not necessarily cover all the expenses related to participating in the conference.

The calculation of the financial contribution for each Conference Grant must respect the following criteria:

• Up to a maximum of EUR 1 000 in total for the whole grant;
• Up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses;
• Up to a maximum of EUR 500 can be claimed for the conference fees to be incurred by the selected Grantee.

Conference Grants can be combined with other funding sources, and these must be acknowledged in the application.

Country rates to cover accommodation and meal expenses may be differentiated based on perceived cost of living in the host country.

When can you apply?

A total budget of EUR 7,000-10,000 (pending final approval on July 14) has been allocated for the Grant Period  (until 31 October 2022). The amounts granted for each individual Conference Grant will be determined during the evaluation process. You may apply anytime (open call).

How can you apply? How the whole process look like? SEE THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION HERE

1.  All applications must be submitted directly through the eCOST System. If you do not have an eCost account yet, create one here.
2. In the eCOST System, you will need to create a ‘Conference Grant Request’. You have to indicate the title of the presentation, the conference title and the country where it takes place, and the budget requested by the applicant.  In addition, you will need to submit the following documentation:
   • ITC Conference Grant application form (available in the eCOST System).
   • Copy of the abstract of the accepted oral or poster presentation.
   • Acceptance letter from the conference organisers.
3. If approved, Grant Awarding Coordinator will notify the Grant Holder, who will send the Grant Letter to the applicant  
4. After the Conference, the investigator submits a scientific report at eCOST within 30 days after the end date of the activity or 15 days after the end of the Grant Period, whichever comes first. The required report/documentation for claiming the ITC Conference Grant is:
   • Report to the Action MC on the outcome of the presentation of the accepted contribution.
   • The certificate of attendance.
   • The programme of the conference (or book of abstracts/proceedings) indicating the presentation of the grantee.
   • Copy of the given presentation.
5. Grant Awarding Coordinator will approve the final report. The Grant Holder executes payment to the ITC Applicant.

What are the criteria for awarding ITC Conference Grants?

Successful applicants will be selected in consideration of the scientific scope of the proposed participation and also how their participation will support the Action in achieving its scientific objectives.

There will be special considerations made with respect to supporting COST policies on promoting gender balance, enabling Early Career Investigators (ECI), and broadening geographical inclusiveness.

The APPLY Action Grant Awarding Coordinator:

Prof. Mariusz Urbański 

For detailed rules regarding eligibility and financial support, please see the relevant sections of the COST Annotated Rules.