First Call for Inclusiveness Target Country Conference Grant Applications
COST Action CA22137 - Randomised Optimisation Algorithms Research Network (ROAR-NET) invites applications for Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) Conference Grants. ITC Conference Grants provide financial support to Young Researchers and Innovators affiliated in an Inclusiveness Target Country or a Near Neighbour Country for their participation in high-profile conferences fully organised by a third party, i.e., not organised nor co-organised by the COST Action.
Eligibility rules
You may apply for an ITC Conference Grant if:
- You are a Young Researcher or Innovator (i.e., a researcher or innovator under the age of 40).
- You have been accepted to give an oral or poster presentation and your presentation is listed in the official event/conference program.
- Your primary affiliation is with an institution located in a COST Inclusiveness Target Country or a COST Near Neighbour Country (NNC) (see the Country and Organisations Table).
Duration
- You may arrive on the day before the conference commences and/or leave one day after the activity finishes.
- The requested grant should be calculated according to the actual number of days of attendance to the approved conference.
Location
- There is no limitation on the location of conferences. They can take place anywhere in the world, including the country of the applicant. However, the grant amount is limited and might not cover the total costs incurred in connection with the conference.
Specific Eligibility Criteria
- The conference topic must be relevant to the ROAR-NET Action.
- The work to be presented must contribute to the goals of the Action (see the Memorandum of Understanding).
Financial support rules
Financial support in the form of an ITC Conference Grant provides a contribution towards travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses, as well as the conference registration fee and poster printing costs. A maximum of 2.000,00 EUR can be awarded to each successful applicant for on-site conference participation and a maximum of 500,00 EUR for online participation.
The amount requested by the applicant should reflect the duration and location of the ITC Conference. The final grant amount will be determined during the evaluation process by the ROAR-NET Grant Awarding Committee. The awarded grant will be paid after the ITC Conference has been completed and the required report and supporting documents have been submitted and approved.
Timeline
- The final deadline for the submission of applications is 26 July 2024.
- Applications can be submitted at any time on a rolling basis, but must be submitted at least 30 days before the start of travel to the conference.
- Applications submitted until the end of each calendar month are evaluated, and decisions are normally announced by the 10th day of the following month.
- The conference must take place no later than 21 September 2024.
- The report on the presentation and supporting documents must be submitted within 30 days after the end of the activity or within 15 days after the end date of the Grant Period, whichever comes first.
Application process
Applications have to be submitted via the COST Grants Application page. In addition to the application form (see the e-COST template), the following supporting documents must be submitted:
- A copy of the paper, if applicable, or abstract of the accepted oral or poster presentation acknowledging the COST Action (wherever possible)
- An acceptance letter from the conference organisers
- A cover letter
- explaining the relevance of the conference topic to the Action
- explaining the contribution of the work to be presented to the goals of the Action
- explaining how presenting at the event is expected to contribute to the applicant’s professional development
- providing a breakdown of the costs
- declaring that the applicant will not be involved in any other COST-funded activities for the duration of the grant
For the submission procedure see the COST Grant Awarding User Guide.
Evaluation process
The ROAR-NET Grant Awarding Committee performs the scientific and budgetary assessment of the applications. The evaluation criteria and the corresponding scoring scales are:
- Scientific or technical level of the conference or collocated event
very high - 2, high - 1, medium or low - 0 - Relevance of the conference topic to the Action
high - 2, medium - 1, low - 0 - Contribution of the work to the goals of the Action
high - 2, medium - 1, low - 0 - Expected contribution to the professional development of the applicant
high - 2, medium - 1, low - 0 - Type of publication
full paper - 2, abstract or extended abstract - 1
The score of an application is the sum of its scores in all criteria.
The following selection procedure is applied in each round of evaluation:
- Applications with a zero score in any of the criteria are rejected.
- Budgetary assessment of the remaining applications is performed and, for each application, the amount requested is either confirmed or revised to a lower amount.
- Applications are sorted in descending order of their scores, and a threshold is defined as the greatest score such that the total amount required by applications with scores down to that threshold matches or exceeds the current budget. If there are multiple applications by the same applicant in the same evaluation round, only the application with the greatest score and, in case of a tie, the lowest amount is considered in this step. Applications by an applicant who has already been awarded an ITC Conference Grant in the same Grant Period are not considered in this step.
- Applications with a score above the threshold are approved for funding, provided that the applicant has not been awarded another ROAR-NET ITC Conference Grant in the same Grant Period. Again, if there are multiple applications scoring above the threshold by the same applicant in the same round of evaluation, only the application with the greatest score and, in case of a tie, with the lowest amount is approved at this stage. The remaining applications are considered in step 5.
- Additional applications are selected for funding from the applications scoring equal to or one point below the threshold, and any applications with greater scores resulting from step 4, so as to improve the gender balance and institutional and geographical diversity of ITC Conference Grants in the current Grant Period. In particular, funding several applicants from the same institution or the same applicant within a Grant Period should be avoided.
Reporting process
After the end of the Conference, the grantee will receive an e-notification to submit a report and other supporting documents on e-COST. Please note that the awarded grant will be paid only after the Conference has been completed, and after the required reporting documents have been submitted and approved.
The following supporting documents must be submitted:
- ITC Conference report based on e-COST template
- Certificate of attendance
- Programme of the conference or book of abstracts / proceedings indicating the presentation (oral or poster)
- Copy of the given presentation (oral or poster) acknowledging the COST Action
Failure to submit the report and supporting documents within 30 days from the end date of the Conference will effectively cancel the Grant. Note that the COST Association or the Action’s Grant Holder may request additional information to substantiate the information contained within the documents submitted by ITC Conference Grant applicants.
Contact
For further information, please contact:
ROAR-NET Grant Awarding Coordinator
Bogdan Filipič <bogdan.filipic@ijs.si>
Useful documents
ROAR-NET Memorandum of Understanding
https://e-services.cost.eu/files/domain_files/CA/Action_CA22137/mou/CA22137-e.pdf
Country and Organisations Table
https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2023/11/Annex-I-level-A-Country-and-Organisations-Table-Version-1.7.pdf
COST Grant Awarding User Guide
https://www.cost.eu/grants_userguide
COST Grant Applications page
https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants
ITC Conference Grant application template
https://www.cost.eu/ITCConference_GrantApplication
ITC Conference report template
https://www.cost.eu/ITCConference_Report
