Strengthening collaboration and service excellence in Europe’s research community
The recent customer satisfaction survey of the COST Association indicates that the reputation of COST remains overwhelmingly positive, with 95% of respondents acknowledging its valuable contributions towards achieving the objectives outlined in its Strategic Plan. This reaffirms the COST commitment to serving the research community by providing a platform for collaboration and innovation. Almost 9 out of 10 respondents (87%) express their willingness to speak highly of COST, with almost half saying they would do so even without being asked their opinion. Meanwhile 9% said they would be neutral about the organisation and just 4% said they would be critical (Figure 3.2).
On a more practical level, the survey indicates high satisfaction with the e-COST platform, with a positive trend in terms of user experience. Approximately 90% of respondents express satisfaction with the speed and problem-solving abilities of the staff.
While the survey results were largely positive, COST identified four key areas where further improvements can be made. These areas include enhancing the transparency and clarity of the SESA (Submission, Evaluation, and Selection of Applications) process, ensuring sufficient resources for networking activities, improving the quality of the Management Committee nomination process, and enhancing understanding and ease of application of COST rules.
By addressing these areas, COST aims to strengthen its services and streamline its operations and to provide a more efficient and effective framework for its community. COST remains committed to maintaining an open dialogue with its stakeholders and implementing changes to meet their needs and expectations.
“COST strongly commits to the stewardship of its research community and takes all feedback into account“
Dr Ronald de Bruin, Director of the COST Association
“I am very satisfied with the excellent results but improvements are always possible”, commented Dr Ronald de Bruin, the Director of the COST Association. “COST strongly commits to the stewardship of its research community and takes all feedback into account. To further improve customer sevice, COST will organise dedicated workshops for Grant Holders to ensure the smooth implementation of the COST rules, further invest in the improvement of e-COST and the COST website, and make the SESA process clearer“, de Bruin added.
The COST Association, dedicated to promoting research collaboration across Europe, places great importance on collecting comments and suggestions from its participants. The recently concluded COST Association Customer Satisfaction Survey, executed by Ipsos Belgium, is one of the tools COST applies to receive regular feedback from the community. With a response rate of 31%, the survey provided input from its networks of researchers on the COST framework and the service and support given by the COST Administration. Its results can help COST in identifying areas of improvement and thus further increasing level of service in the future.
Additional information
Read the report
Read COST Strategic Plan
Read more about COST Open Call and SESA