COST Virtual Networking Tools: from a pilot to long-term benefits

On April 2021, COST introduced its new Virtual Networking Tools (VNTs) to support COST Actions’ activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approved by the European Commission to run initially as a pilot scheme from April to October 2021, the VNTs unveiled two novel instruments, each with a dedicated purpose and a working mechanism: the Virtual Networking Support (VNS) Grant, aiming at stimulating virtual collaboration among the members of a COST Action, and the Virtual Mobility (VM) Grant(s) for strengthening the existing networks through a diverse range of individual activities.

With travel restrictions reinventing working habits, many COST Actions have been harnessing these new tools as springboards to fill gaps and harvest prospects as diverse as their multidisciplinary networks. How did the VNTs translate into concrete activities? What were their main benefits in 2021 and how can COST Actions continue making use of them?

This article depicts the main functioning and rationale of COST’s latest networking tools dedicated to COST Actions and features the stories of three experienced VNT users: Prof. Ana Ganho Ávila (MC Chair CA18138, VM Grantee), Dr Augusto Stancampiano (VNS Manager CA19110) and Dr Vygantė Milašiūtė (MC Vice-Chair CA19143, VNS Manager).

Meeting an urgent need

Although laying the foundation of a COST Action, research networking has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic when many planned activities were to be postponed or cancelled. While most COST Actions did their best to get mobilised online, there was a concrete risk of losing momentum and delaying the achievement of planned objectives and deliverables. This translated to an urgent need for support and new options. To better grasp the areas where COST could intervene and assist researchers in their efforts, COST held a consultation with the leadership of its running Actions on September 2020. The consultation highlighted that 70% of researchers in leadership positions were in favour of having some form of long-term incorporation of virtual networking in the COST framework. In early 2021, COST designed the two new types of grants to give renewed impetus and help COST Actions continue to deliver a range of networking activities.

The initial objective was clear: the VNS and VM grants did not aim at replacing physical mobility but rather at offering an effective alternative to support networking and collaboration during a period of travel restrictions. The two have been shaped to act complementarily and to support COST Actions to continue building capacity and meet their initial objectives.

The VNS grant looked specifically at enabling virtual collaboration amongst the members of a COST Action with the designation by the Management Committee of a VNS manager. The latter’s responsibilities covered the development of a virtual networking strategy for the Action as well as the coordination of the call for VM Grants.

For the case of the VM Grants, it has been the role of the selected VM grantee to operate a range of activities that did not require in-person presence, with the purpose of strengthening the existing network. These activities included surveys, questionnaires or preparation of protocols, virtual mentoring of activities that can generate capacity, build new skills, etc. Amongst the benefits VM Grants could bring to COST Actions, COST looked at helping them achieve the MoU objectives and significantly increase their impact and reach.

To maximise flexibility in their implementation, the new Virtual Networking Tools configuration allowed COST Actions to reallocate amounts with their approved budget plans. With rules framing this process already existing in the COST Vademecum (former version of COST Annotated Rules), this helped facilitating a smooth and rapid introduction of the new tools.

Wrapped-up in a significant communication effort to promote the new tools, including an FAQ document, and an online info session, the launch in April 2021 introduced how the new grants could be utilised in the pilot context and opened the way for COST Actions to start experiencing the new instruments.

Virtual Networking Tools in motion: learnings from experienced users

“From the very start of our Action (September 2020) we worked only online because of the pandemic. When we received information about the newly introduced system of grants for networking activities, we felt it could be used as an incentive to motivate people to continue their virtual activities in the Action and also to attract additional people by offering them a possibility to contribute to the work of the Action by further strengthening its virtual component. We advertised the possibility to apply to everyone within the Action.” explains Dr Vygantė Milašiūtė, from COST Action GDHRNet .

Dr Milašiūtė applied for the position of a VNS manager soon after the launch of the VNTs: “I felt I was in a good position to draft a virtual networking strategy which would connect the various strands of our Action activities and facilitate achieving the aims of our first grant period. I then submitted an application using the standard procedure and was awarded a grant.”

Being general and flexible, the VNTs allowed COST Actions to tackle tailor-made needs, leaving it to the participants’ assessment to identify how and in which activity’ areas their integration would be the most benefitting. From supporting members of an Action with planning of online events for the VNS manager, to undertaking virtual mentoring scheme for the VM grantee, these activities took many different shapes.

“The grant allowed the organisation of two round tables organised by two young female researchers. It gave visibility to the two researchers but also allowed for open discussion on specific subject. As a matter of fact, the events, while small, had a very good impact on the community and for example the VM reports were a starting point for the writing of work group reports as well as the planning of new activities.” explains Augusto Stancampiano from COST Action PlAgri, who quickly invested his position as the VNS Manager in 2021.

For Prof Ana Ganho Ávila from COST Action Riseup-PPD, who took on the role of a VM grantee herself: “The grant enabled the online meetings to organise the scientific program and implementation of the one-day Workshop in Cost-effectiveness and utility of interventions in peripartum depression.”

For other COST Actions, as it was the case for the previously mentioned COST Action GDHRNet, the different VNT grants allocated to the different participants were pooled together to coordinate complementary virtual activities all aiming at one main goal.  

“Our virtual networking strategy envisaged as its main aim the organisation of the Autumn event of the Action which included a Management Committee meeting, working group meetings and a training school. The meeting was held in a hybrid form. All preparation activities were coordinated virtually. The strategy envisaged specific tasks that had to be completed to achieve this aim.” says Dr Vygantė Milašiūtė.

Some of these tasks included: the coordination of research and year 1 workshop activities, coordinating stakeholder involvement, coordinating practice-oriented activities aimed at developing guidance for businesses and governments on managing online content, etc. The Autumn event benefited from the participation of people (notably, the judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, see here, and a former judge of the European Court of Human Rights, see here ) whose busy agenda would not allow time for travelling but who could dedicate a couple of hours for participating in virtual discussions. Virtual participation of overseas participants (notably, from Brazil) usefully extended the reach of the Autumn event activities for COST Action GDHRNet.

Assessment and added value

During the time of implementation of the pilot (25/04/21-31/10/21), a total of 122 Actions and COST Innovator Grants (54.5%) made use of the new grants, awarding 570 grants for a total budget of 1,072,355 EUR. 

In the COST Actions’ communities, the benefits of having swiftly tapped-into the new tools have been showing-off:

“This activity allowed the allocation of the needed resources to organise the scientific content (e.g., through a survey across participants) and administrative tasks supporting the event.” says Prof. Ana Ganho Ávila.

For Dr Vygantė Milašiūtė who underlined how virtual networking at the preparatory stage enabled COST Action GDHRNet to organise a smoothly running hybrid Autumn event, she specifies notably that these online lecture series “helped identifying trainers for the training school (ultimately a speaker thus identified went on to become a new leader of Working group 3 of the Action). “

Shortly after the closing period of the VNT Pilot, on 31 October 2021, COST launched two surveys addressing Action Chairs and VNT Grantees to assess the uptake of the new tools and receive feedback on the experience and the potential impact. Amongst the different results, the survey highlighted that “a bit more than 80% of Chairs indicated that the VNTs contributed to capacity building and research coordination objectives of their Action”. To complement with qualitative input, COST also organised discussions with a focus group constituted of nine COST Actions in November 2021.

Sustaining beyond the pandemic: Virtual Networking under Horizon Europe

One of the takeaways from the exchanges with the focus group of last November was that “the pandemic helped COST Action participants realise that virtual networking was not only important and useful, but that some of its potential had not been fully exploited until this emergency context.” The focus group participants underlined that “VNTs were not used to replace “traditional” networking instruments but rather to respond to existing and emergent needs in the Action to strengthen the network and implement activities of added value to the Action and their participants.”

The conclusions emphasised a novel aspect to the grants: the fact that they can benefit research networking beyond the single context of the pandemic and that their usage could be considered in a wider frame and longer-therm.

When asked about continuing to use the Virtual Networking Tools, Ana Ganho Ávila says: “Yes. We will continue using VNT’s related online activities on a long-term. This tool is of the utmost importance due to its flexibility, allowing to cover critical costs that we would otherwise be unable to support.”

Taking this crucial aspect into consideration, COST has maintained both grants as part of its networking tools for COST Actions within the new Horizon Europe Framework Programme.

With the view of making the tools even more flexible and to amplify their impact, some new adaptations were brought such as removing the restrictions of number of Virtual Mobility Grants per Action and widening the scope of their usage. Indeed, the VNTs in Horizon Europe mirrors even more COST’s mission to support and empower researchers from all horizons to strengthen Europe’s capacity to address scientific, technological, and societal challenges. In that sense, the efficient use of the new VNTs open the doors for an integrated strategy for each COST Action, where virtual activities comes-in to complement, amplify and widen the scope of face-to-face activities. And to keep the momentum, new collaborations amongst a COST Actions participants are encouraged and promote for example the active engagement of the Science Communication Coordinator to connect the VNTs to more impactful dissemination plans.

It was clear that virtual networking demonstrated its suitability to both consolidate and develop a COST Action as a community, allowing easier participation in events from anywhere in the world, promoting Action’ visibility and dissemination on global scale, and supporting them with progress of their objectives.

More information

Detailed information on COST’s networking tools: Action Networking Tools | COST

Discover COST’s documents & guidelines: Funding Documents & Guidelines | COST

About COST Actions: What are COST Actions? – COST