Call for ITC Conference Grant

A call for Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC) Conference grant is currently open until 30/09/2025, for participation and giving an oral presentation at renowned scientific conferences organized till 15/10/2025.

Responsible

Miklós Veres (veres.miklos@wigner.hun-ren.hu)

What is ITC Conference grant?

ITC Conference grant funds an oral presentation of their own work within the scope of the Action by an Action Participant affiliated to a legal entity located in an Inclusiveness Target Country / Near Neighbour Country in a high-level conference fully organized by a third party, i.e. not organized nor co-organized by the COST Action.

ITC Conference grant:

• Serves COST Excellence and Inclusiveness Policy;
• Supports Action Participant affiliated with a legal entity located in an Inclusiveness Target Country/Near Neighbour Country to establish a strong network and increase their visibility in the research community through sharing their work and to gain knowledge;
• Can contribute to increasing the visibility of the Action. More information can be found in Annex 2 of the Annotated Rules for COST Actions.

Funding Scheme

The ITC Conference grant provides a contribution for travelling, accommodation and subsistence expenses, registration fee and overall effort.

The grant is decided by the Action MC or Core Group on the proposal of the evaluators, based on the request of the applicant, and should reflect the duration and location of the Conference and the actual conference fee

The maximum amount of the ITC Conference grant is EUR 2,500 for face-to-face conferences and EUR 500 for online conferences. Upon approval of the Grant, the Action MC can decide to lower the requested grant amount.

Eligibility

Eligible individuals to apply for an ITC Conference grant must be affiliated with a legal entity in

• COST Inclusiveness Target Countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia, Türkiye, Ukraine
• COST Near Neighbor Countries: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, the Faroe Islands, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia

A complete definition of the terms used above is given in the document “ Country and organisations table.”.

The affiliation of an individual or a legal entity is determined as per Article 4.1.1.1.1 of the Annotated rules for COST Actions.

Application

Calls for ITC Conference grant applications are periodically shared amongst the participants of the COST Action. In response to a call, the ITC Conference grant application shall be submitted online in e-COST using dedicated forms:

https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants/add.

Information to be provided in the application:

To be filled in e-COST:

• Title of the presentation;
• Conference title, date (within the active Grant Period, i.e.no overlap across two consecutive Grant Periods) and country;
• Budget requested;
• Attendance Type (face to face or online)

To be uploaded to e-COST:

• Application form (template available on e-COST) describing: Relevance of the conference topic to the Action and Motivation describing the potential for impact on the applicant’s career.
• Copy of the abstract of the accepted oral presentation;
• Acceptance (or invitation) letter from the conference organizers.

The above information will be visible to the holders of leadership positions and any evaluation committees in the Action for evaluation purposes.

The applications will be evaluated by an ad-hoc committee formed by 2-5 MC members of the COST Action based on

• scientific quality of the presentation (based on the abstract);
• quality and relevance of the conference for the topic of the COST Action;
• benefit of the presentation to the development of the COST Action.

The selection will follow the COST policies on inclusiveness (gender, age, geography).

The applicants will receive the results of the evaluation by email. The selected applicants should wait for the official invitation from the Grant Holder before booking any travel arrangements.

Funding Scheme

• scientific quality,
• feasibility of the approach proposed,
• benefit to the development of the COST Action.

The selection will follow the COST policies on inclusiveness (gender, age, geography).

The final ranking will be approved by the Action Chair and Co-Chair. The researchers who applied to the call will receive the results of the selection from the STSM responsible.

The selected researchers should wait for the official invitation from the Grant Holder before booking any travel arrangements.

Implementation

• Upon approval of the application, the Grantee receives a Grant Letter from the Grant Holder stating the approved amount and the conditions for receiving the grant.
• Grantee delivers the approved oral presentation, following any specific request of acknowledgement set by the Action MC.
• Once the activity has ended, the grantee submits the required reports and relevant documentation in e-COST within 30 days after the end date of the activity or 15 days after the end of the Grant Period, whichever date comes first;
• The grantee claims the payment by submitting the report via e-COST.

The required report/documentation for claiming an ITC Conference grant is:

• Report to the Action MC on the outcome of the presentation of the accepted contribution, in terms of grantee’s visibility, including the establishment of new contacts for future collaborations;
• The certificate of attendance;
• The program of the conference or book of abstracts / proceedings indicating the oral presentation of the grantee;
• Copy of the given oral presentation.

Selection criteria and scoring

The ITC Conference grant applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria and scoring.

Criteria	Max. score, points
Scientific quality of the presentation	5
Quality and relevance of the conference for the topic of the COST Action	5
Benefit of the presentation to the development of the COST Action	5
Threshold	12 (of max. 15)

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation.

www.cost.eu