Virtual Mobility, a newly established feature from the COST Association, consists of a collaboration in a virtual setting among researchers or innovators within the COST Action, to exchange knowledge, learn new techniques, and similar activities. Examples of activities that can be performed by the VM grantee include, but are not limited to:
- Virtual mentoring schemes, with a special focus on activities and exchanges that can generate capacity building and new skills, particularly for Young Researchers and Innovators (e.g., managerial skills, methodological skills, communication skills, etc.).
- Support of the harmonisation and standardisation of methods and procedures within the Action networking activities, e.g.:
- Setting up a survey among all Action members to collect different results and outcomes from experiments done in their respective labs and research groups;
- Coordinating discussions to create common protocols to be used by the network afterward;
- Preparing questionnaires and response scales to be used by the Action members as part of virtual networking activities.
- Support the implementation of research coordination related activities that do not necessarily require in-person presence, e.g.:
- Computational or modelling activities;
- Data analysis of the Action for a specific report or activity.
- Content preparation and coordination of science communication activities, e.g.:
- Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs);
- Online workshops, such as ‘webinar series’ or ‘TV series’-like format;
- Online COST Action workshops in external international conferences or events, when the applicant can demonstrate a role in the organising committee, that could help in the promotion of the Action activities.
VM Grants should contribute to the scientific objectives of our COST Action, and respect COST policies.
Eligibility criteria
All WG members from COST Full and Cooperating Countries and Near Neighbour Countries, in cooperation with a host institution that is also a WG member, are welcome to submit a proposal. Special attention will be given to excellence and exclusiveness. Relevance to deliverables according to the specific grant period will be prioritised.
The grant in its full amount is awarded to the applicant.
Financial support
Up to 1500 EUR per VM Grant; should reflect the complexity of work that will be performed. Financial support comes as a grant; therefore, no invoices or other justification of the expenses will be requested.
The VM Grants cannot be used to attend virtual conferences or to purchase software license or set up a database.
The Grant Holder shall pay the approved grant to the grantee after the MC has approved the grantee’s report and no later than 15 days from the end of Grant Period.
Final report
After the VM Grant activity is finished, the grantee is required to submit a short scientific report to the Action MC, no later than 30 days after the end date of the VM Grant activity, or 15 days after the end of the Grant Period, whichever date comes first.
Failure to submit the scientific report within 30 days will effectively cancel the grant. The Action Chair or Grant Awarding Coordinator is responsible for approving the scientific report and informing the Grant Holder that the VM Grant has been successfully accomplished. After receipt of the approval by email, the Grant Holder will execute the payment of the grant.
Please note that the reimbursement of VM grantees will be done after the activity is over and the final report is submitted by the VM grantee. Exceptions to this rule cannot be granted.
The template for the final report can be found here.
Application documents:
- Application form. Template is available here.
- Motivation Letter; please explain in brief how this grant will contribute to the achievements and deliverables of the Action. Example of motivation letter is available here.
- CV
- Brief summarisation of the budget applied – although no justification of expenses will be required, the budget needs to reflect the complexity of the work that will be carried out.
- Signed invitation for virtual mobility by host researcher/institution. Template is available here.
Before you apply for the grant please also check the latest COST annotated rules and Grant Awarding User guide.
For all additional information you can always contact Ivona Djurkin Kušec (idurkin@fazos.hr) or Despoina Karatosidi (despinakaratosidi@elgo.gr).
