ITC Conference Grants
COST general funding rules for ITC Conference Grants can be found here. The aim of the ITC Conference Grants is to support young researchers from Participating Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) to attend international science and technology-related conferences on the topic of the COST Action that are not organized by the COST Action.
Due to a limited budget, additional rules apply within the OPERA COST Action:
- Only applications from PhD students with a primary affiliation in an institution located in a participating COST ITC will be considered. List of ITC countries can be found here.
- The ITC conference grants can only cover conference fees.
- The applicant must have an oral/poster presentation accepted at the conference. The main subject of the oral/poster presentation at the approved conference must be on the topic of COST OPERA and must acknowledge the OPERA COST action.
- Attendance at in person European conferences is preferred. In addition, special care will be paid on the conference impact and topics. The applicant should show that the conference topics are in accordance with the OPERA COST action topics.
- A candidate can be granted only once during the whole duration of the COST action.
The selection criteria will include:
- CV of the candidate. Applications of 3rd year PhD students who did not have the opportunity to present his/her work at an international conference before will be preferred.
- Gender balance
- Scientific impact of the conference, adequation of the conference topic with the OPERA COST action objectives,
- Expected benefit for the applicant and host institution as explained by both the supervisor and the applicant
The application process
- All applicants must register for an e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu/ – adding their bank account details and a full C.V. to their profile. Following the directions provided above they have to submit their application and supporting documents on the e-COST platform (by selecting the ITC Conference Grants tab). Further guidance can be obtained from the Grant Awarding Coordinator: L. Méchin, laurence.mechin@ensicaen.fr
- The grant application must be submitted at least 45 days before the Conference start date.
- Attendance at the conference and the application process must start and end during the same Grant Period (i.e. before Oct. 15 for COST OPERA)
- Received applications will be promptly reviewed by two referees from the core group of the OPERA COST Action and by the Grant Awarding Coordinator within aweek after the grant request is submitted. The results will be validated by the core group of OPERA COST within the next 3 working days. Financial support will be awarded based on available budget.
Requested documents
- CV of the applicant
- Filled application form – https://www.cost.eu/ITCConference_GrantApplication where the applicant demonstrates how he/she meets the selection criteria and, in particular, gives details of previous conference attendance and PhD year.
- A copy of the abstract accepted at the conference
- A copy of the acceptance letter by the conference organizers
- A letter from the PhD supervisor explaining why the participation at the conference is important and why a financial support is requested. It should be highlighted if PhD student will be attending an international conference for the first time.
Deadlines
An open call procedure is used for the ITC Conference Grant applications. This means that applications can be submitted any time, but 45 days prior to the planned conference attendance and except summer holyday period (July 22-August 15).
After the conference
The applicant should send a report after the conference and a certificate of attendance at the conference.