Networking is an excellent way for individuals at every stage of their career to discover exciting opportunities, meet new connections, and broaden personal research horizons. COST Actions are designed to maximise networking possibilities and feature a wide range of activities and grants that help individuals widen their research networks and deepen their knowldge.
Meetings, workshops, and conferences
Meetings are organised by COST Action Management Committees (MC) in any COST Member Country joining the network. They can be of different types, such as MC meetings, Working Group meetings, workshops, or conferences. They may be open to the wider community and provide opportunities to enhance the COST Action’s visibility. COST will contribute to the travel and subsistence costs of invited participants, and to the cost of organising the meeting.
Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)
These scientific missions allow researchers involved in a COST Action to visit an institution or laboratory in any country in the world. Over 2000 are funded every year. The aim is to foster collaboration and share new techniques and research infrastructure that may not be available in a participant’s home institution or laboratory. STSMs provide a good opportunity for both young and experienced researchers looking for mentoring and lifelong learning.
COST carried out a detailed impact analysis on the power of short-term mobility schemes like STSMs in enhancing research collaboration. Improved research quality, expanded research topics, new projects and proposals, data sharing, and strengthened connections are just some of the benefits that emerge. Further information on the study can be found here.
COST Action ‘Better Understanding the Heterogeneity of Tinnitus to Improve and Develop New Treatments’ (TINNET) explains more about STSMs in this video.
Training Schools
Training Schools offer intensive training on an Action topic at the premises of one of the Action participants. Trainees are typically Young Researchers and Innovators from across Europe but participation can be open to researchers from any career stage, providing lifelong learning opportunities.
“The Training School showed me how much there was to learn, to use this tool correctly, you need to be familiar with many things I knew nothing about. I am a botanist, and I found myself dealing with drones using different types of sensors, different global navigation systems, etc.“
Goran Tmušić of the University of Novi Sad’s Department of Biology and Ecology. Click here to read more
Conference grants
There are two types of conference grants offered by COST Actions, one specifically for Young Researchers and Innovators (under 40 years of age), and another for researchers located in Inclusiveness Target Countries. The purpose of the grant is to help individuals attend beneficial international conferences that are not organised by the COST Action.
“It was an unparalleled opportunity to meet outstanding researchers in my field, show my work and gain new ideas”
Marcin Makowski of Molecular Medicine Institute iMM João Lobo Antunes, Lisbon. Click here to read more
Communication and dissemination grants
The sharing of scientific results is vitally important in strengthening science and research. Due to the value and impact communication and dissemination activities can have on the wider research community, COST actively encourages and supports Actions to share outcomes with researchers, policymakers, the private sector and civic society such as NGOs.
Watch an award-winning short video by COST Action ‘Populist Political Communication in Europe: Comprehending the Challenge of Mediated Political Populism for Democratic Politics‘ (IS1308), which was created as part of an education package for use in high schools:
Virtual Mobility Grants
To respond to the rising need of digital tools and online collaboration, COST Actions also offer Virtual Mobility Grants. This consists of collaboration in a virtual setting among researchers and/or innovators within a COST Action network to exchange knowledge, learn new techniques, and so on.
