International Programs

Australian participation in European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) in FY 2012-2013

 

The funding for this financial year has been fully expended.

In order to deliver the project, the Academy and COST have signed a reciprocal agreement for Australian and European scientists to participate in COST Actions (http://www.cost.eu/about_cost). Under the terms of the agreement and COST guidelines, Australia is regarded as a country with reciprocal arrangements.

Financial assistance is available for Australian professional researchers who are official members of a COST Action to undertake Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM) of COST and/or attend a workshop/meeting of COST.

Non-COST country participation in COST Actions as at June 2010

Missions are aimed at strengthening existing networks by allowing scientists to visit an institution or laboratory in another COST country to foster collaboration, to learn a new technique or to make measurements using instruments and/or methods not available in their own institution/laboratory.

Funding of $170,000 is available to support visits in FY 2012-2013 for Australian researchers to participate in COST Actions. Australian researchers need to be official members of a COST Action to be eligible for funding.

Australian researchers travelling to Europe may receive a grant in aid of up to A$5,000 for a STSM or attendance at a workshop or seminar. The aid covers a return airfare of up to A$2,500 and daily living allowances. Daily living allowances, covering accommodation and meals are provided at the rate of A$200 per day or a maximum of A$2,500 per month, whichever is the smaller amount.

All STSMs must be for five days minimum and three months maximum duration and need to be conducted by 30 June 2013.  Visits to attend a workshop or seminar must be for five days minimum and can include site visits.

Researchers are only eligible to receive one COST Action grant in a financial year. Researchers who have already received one or more COST Action grants from the Academy will need to explain why they are seeking further funding. Researchers who have already received three or more COST Action grants to the same COST Action are not eligible to apply under this round.

Priority areas

Priority areas of interest to Australia in COST Actions fall under the six broad themes of medical and health research; agriculture, biotechnology and food; nanotechnology; information and communications technology; environment and climate change; and social sciences and humanities.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents residing in Australia at the time of application.

• Applicants must be official members of a COST Action at the time of application.

Application procedures to become a member of a COST Action

1. To become an official member of a COST Action, Australian researchers need to contact the Chair of the COST Action that is of their interest and relevant to their area of research. http://www.cost.eu/domains_actions
2. Please use the following link to view a 7 minute video of e-COST and the approval processes - http://tutorials.cost.eu/NCI/NCIdemo.htm
3. The Australian researcher will need to write a motivation letter (maximum 1 page), on organisation letterhead, to the Chair explaining the expertise/research of the applicant, relevant to the Action and summarising the mutual benefits of the participation.
4. The Chair will initiate a request and upload the motivation letter in e-COST. The Australian researcher will then receive an invitation from the Chair to complete the application form with the additional data. The Australian researcher must submit this application.
5. The Science Officer of the relevant Domain will validate or reject the application before it is forwarded to the Management Committee Chair, then on to the Domain Committee Chair and then finally to the JAF (Executive Group of the Committee of Senior Officials). This approval process can take up to three months.
6. Once researchers become official members, Australian researchers will need to complete the Australian Academy of Science's online summary sheet and an application form.

Applications will be processed by the Academy in order of receipt. Australian researchers will receive confirmation of the grant approval, on a first-come first–serve basis, approximately within two weeks, provided funds are available. Researchers are expected to submit a short report of the success of the mission at the end of the process to the COST Action chair, to the Australian Academy of Science and the COST Office.

Reporting forms for COST visits

This project is supported by the Australian Government
Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education