COST Open Call countdown: 6 months to go

The countdown has officially started, our Open Call 2024 for new COST Action proposals closes in six months on 23 October 2024 at 12.00 (noon) CEST.

A COST Action is an interdisciplinary research network that brings researchers and innovators together to investigate a topic for 4 years. Open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging ones, COST Actions are also are bottom-up meaning you can propose a network based on your own interests or ideas.

The funding a COST Action receives covers the expenses of networking activities and can be used to fund events, Short-Term Scientific Missions, Training Schools, communication activities, and virtual networking tools. An estimated €125,000 is made available for a COST Action in its first year and an average of €150,000 per year for the other 3 years.

“If you have an idea, if you have a network, you can apply. This is a good opportunity for scientists to broaden their work and promote it to the public and other stakeholders. This gives you the opportunity to go out from your lab and show the public what you are doing with their money.”
Dr Karim Benabdellah, Main Proposer and Chair of COST Action GenE-Humdi

Participants are invited to submit a proposals that contributes to the scientific, technological, economic, cultural or societal knowledge advancement and development of Europe. Multi- and interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged.

The Open Call Action proposal submission, evaluation, selection and approval (SESA) procedure is fully science and technology-driven and will ensure a simple, transparent and competitive proposal evaluation and selection process, reflecting the bottom-up, open and inclusive principles of COST.

The time from submission to awarding is seven months so proposers should discover by May 2025 if they are successful.

1. Proposals are evaluated and selected on a competitive basis, taking into account the available funds for an Open Call. 2. Evaluation and selection follows 3 steps: i. Evaluation by Independent External Experts ii. Revision and quality check of the Evaluation Reports by Review Panels iii. Proposal selection by the COST Scientific Committee 3. Final approval of new COST Actions is made by the COST Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) 4. Time from submission to awarding is 7 months. Proposers should discover by May 2025 if they are successful. 5. Evaluation happens against COST’s eligibility (network of proposers, length, anonymity, language, ethical principles & peaceful purposes) and evaluation criteria (S&T excellence, networking, impact, implementation).

6. COST uses double-blind peer review. The identities of Independent External Experts, Review Panel members, and proposers are kept confidential. 7. Ad-hoc Review Panels are established after each Collection Date based on the number and topics of received proposals 8. COST strives to avoid any conflict of interest and all those involved in the process commit to confidentiality. 9. The Evaluation Report and results of the assessment are made available to each proposer via e-COST after CSO approval. 10. To ensure fairness and transparency COST has a Redress Procedure.

COST Actions are the ideal platform to bring together and collaborate with experts from diverse fields, backgrounds, and countries to advance science and technology, grow your professional research network, and boost your career. So, are you ready to turn your innovative ideas into reality? There is still plenty of time to build a network proposal before the deadline!

Rewatch our online Info Day

If you missed our online Info Day that included a great segment from COST Action Chair Dr Ciaran Mac Donncha on his experience of being a main proposer then you can rewatch the recording here:

Make sure you’re on top of your application submission:

Process of applying for the COST Open Call (collection date 2024: 23 October at noon). 1: Build your idea and team with a bottom up approach. You must be at least 7 peers from 7 COST Member countries. 2: Submit your anonymous proposal online via e-COST. 3: Evaluaton and selection is carried out by independent external experts and ad-hoc review panels. The scientific committee make the final selection of proposals. 4: Approval and launch final decision is taken by the COST committee of Senior Officials. New COST Actions kick off in autumn 2025

10 tips for preparing a COST Action proposal: 1. Innovative idea 2. Team of 7 proposers 3. Demonstrate how networking helps 4. Present a detailed plan 5. SMART objectives 6. Promote geographical, age & gender balance 7. Adhere to ethical principles 8. Respect word limit 9. Use templates 10. Anonymous

Distribution channels: Science

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