A COST Action is an interdisciplinary research network that brings researchers and innovators together to investigate a topic of their choice for 4 years. COST Actions are typically made up of researchers from academia, SMEs, public institutions and other relevant organisations or interested parties.
Open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging fields; COST Actions offer an inclusive, pan-European environment for individuals of all levels of seniority to grow their professional research networks and boost their careers.
In today’s world it is essential for research to be interconnected, interdisciplinary, collaborative and data-intensive. By focusing on networking activities, COST Actions help to advance knowledge and strengthen the research and development sector, by creating networking opportunities for researchers to meet and discuss ideas, complex problems can be addressed in a targeted way, across a large geographical area.
COST Actions act as a pre-portal to other funding instruments. Follow-up proposals from COST Actions have a 37% success rate, which leads to 5.8 million spin-off funding per Action
COST Actions are gender inclusive: During Horizon 2020, 42% of participants were women
COST Actions are a career accelerator for young researchers. 88% indicate that participation has led to advancement
Why join or propose a COST Action?
Watch our short animation to find out why you should join an existing COST Action, or propose your own research network:
How to participate in an existing Action?
COST Actions are different to many other EU funded projects because it is possible to join and participate in a research network once it has started running, this feature applies throughout the entire lifespan of the Action. This is the openness of COST.
There are a number of options available for people wishing to get involved:
How to propose your own Action?
If you would like to propose your own COST Action research network, you must do so through the COST Open Call.
Useful links
