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Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences<\/strong> – A COST Domain<\/p>\n The initiative of launching a COST Action<\/span> comes from the European researchers themselves.<\/p>\n COST Grant System<\/strong> – The aim of the COST Grant System is to provide a flexible way of financing COST Action<\/span> activities in accordance with the COST guidelines on the COST \u201cFinancial Instruments\u201d.<\/p>\n Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Technologies<\/strong> – A COST Domain<\/p>\n COST National Coordinators<\/strong>:\u00a0the individuals appointed by the COST Member Countries and Cooperating State in charge of confirming the acceptance of the Action Memorandum of Understanding and responsible for nominating the Management Committee members of their country and the evaluators for the Review Panels pool of Experts and\u00a0for advising and informing the national science and technology communities and institutions in his\/her country on all COST related matters.<\/p>\n Deadlines for submitting proposals through the COST Open Call for Proposals<\/span>.<\/p>\n COST Actions<\/span> are networks centred around nationally funded research projects in fields that are of interest to at least seven COST countries. The financial support averages EUR 130 000 per year for a four-year period.<\/p>\n It was established in September 2013 as an\u00a0international not-for-profit organisation under Belgian law, integrating the\u00a0COST governance and executive bodies.\u00a0It acts as the implementing agent for COST activities and is\u00a0strictly non-profit making, devoted to the promotion, organisation,\u00a0management and funding of practical support functions for COST.<\/p>\n COST Countries<\/span>:<\/p>\n 36 Member Countries: <\/strong>Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and<\/p>\n One cooperating state: <\/strong>Israel<\/p>\n A cooperating state implies non-voting membership in the COST Committee of Senior Officials<\/span> (CSO<\/span>) and in the Scientific Committee<\/span> as well as full member rights on Action level.<\/p>\n According to the COST rules, participation of Member Countries is based exclusively on a voluntary approach. They participate only in mutually agreed Actions, depending on their interest, relevance of joint research and shorter time needed to achieve envisaged results. The achieved results are the property of all participants, who have to provide full funding for agreed research and concerted activities themselves. COST Member Countries merely endorse the Actions by signing a Memorandum of Understanding, thus increasing their importance and providing moral support.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n A Grant Agreement is a contract between the COST Association<\/span> and the Grant Holder following a request from the Action Management Committee (MC<\/span>).<\/p>\n The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union provided the secretariat for the CSO<\/span> and JAF<\/span> Group until December 2013. All arrangements concluded in the framework of COST and all Memoranda of Understanding were deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union u until the end of 2013. The Secretary-General was responsible for forwarding any relevant information to the parties concerned.<\/p>\n Committee of Senior Officials<\/span><\/strong> – The CSO<\/span> is composed of two representatives of the COST Member Countries, one of whom is usually the COST National Coordinator. The CSO<\/span> is the main decision-making body of the COST structure (the General Assembly of the COST Association<\/span>). It reports directly to the Ministerial Conferences, formulates the general strategy of COST, appoints the Scientific Committee<\/span>, approves the Actions to be launched and prepares the relevant Memoranda of Understanding to be accepted by the interested countries.<\/p>\n The role of a CSO<\/span> member is to<\/p>\n Liaise with the ministries and offices of his\/her country<\/p>\n Liaise with the COST Association<\/span><\/p>\n<\/dd>\n Domain Committees<\/strong> – DCs were responsible for a particular research domain and were formed by representatives of the COST countries, reporting to the CSO<\/span> until October 2014. The scientific quality control was their main responsibility. They followed the rigorous evaluation procedures established by the CSO<\/span> involving the mandatory use of external peer reviewers.<\/p>\n European Research Area<\/strong> – In 2000, the European Union (EU) decided to create the ERA<\/span>. The objective is to inspire the best talents to enter research careers in Europe, incite industry to invest more in European research \u2013 contributing to the EU objective to devote 3% of GDP for research, and strongly contribute to the creation of sustainable growth and jobs.<\/p>\n European Research Council<\/strong> <\/i>– The main aim of the newly-established body is to stimulate scientific excellence by supporting and encouraging the very best, truly creative scientists, engineers and scholars to be adventurous and take risks in their research.<\/p>\n European Space Agency<\/strong> – the ESA<\/span> is Europe\u2019s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe\u2019s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe.<\/p>\n European Science Foundation<\/strong> – The ESF<\/span> is an association of 75 member organisations devoted to scientific research in 30 European countries. It was established in 1974 and coordinates a wide range of pan-European scientific initiatives.<\/p>\n It was the legal entity of COST between 2003 and 2014, providing the COST Office in Brussels through a specific contract with the European Commission.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n Early Stage Researcher<\/span><\/strong> – was a term used until 1 January 2015 to define a researcher whose career spun less than 8 years between the date of the PhD\/doctorate (or similar experience) and the date of involvement in the COST Action<\/span>. Periods of career leave have to be added to this time span. According to the COST Rules valid as of 1 January 2015, the corresponding term refers to Early Career Investigators (ECI).<\/p>\n COST approved a specific strategy for early stage researchers.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n Earth System Science and Environmental Management<\/strong> – A COST Domain<\/p>\n EUREKA<\/span> is a pan-European network for market-oriented, industrial Research and Development (R&D).<\/p>\n Part of the COST Association<\/span>, its role is to supervise and monitor the COST activities implementation and prepare the CSO<\/span>\u00a0meetings.\u00a0The group consists of at least seven members including the CSO<\/span>\u00a0President and the Vice-President.<\/p>\n Food and Agriculture<\/strong> – A COST Domain<\/p>\n The EU’s Seventh Framework Programme<\/strong> for research and technological development.<\/p>\n Forests, their Products and Services<\/strong> – A COST Domain<\/p>\n General Action Support Grant<\/strong> – A COST Action<\/span>‘s Management Committee may assign up to EUR 2 000 per annum from within an Action budget to the MC<\/span> chair as grant holder for the general support of the Action management. The GASG<\/span> is only available for Actions under the Pay-as-you-go system.<\/p>\n Information and Communication Technologies<\/strong> – A COST Domain<\/p>\n Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health<\/strong> – A COST Domain<\/p>\n Interdisciplinary Science Initiative<\/strong> – The ISIs have the objective to foster rapid response schemes for trans-Domain activities and to prepare to targeted activities. A procedure for ISIs will be developed to optimise the flexibility and the rapid response capacity of COST, as an intergovernmental instrument, to enhance the impact of the Lisbon strategy. In particular Trans-Domain initiatives undertaken by DCs to enhance new fields of collaboration are to be supported. COST is an integral part of the ERA<\/span>. Thus it interacts not only with the ESF<\/span>, but also with other actors such as the ERC<\/span>, the EC, the JRC<\/span> and EUREKA<\/span>. ISIs are potential breeders of new scientific communities, around multidisciplinary topics and could also result in new Actions as spin offs from such strategic initiatives.<\/p>\n The former Executive Group of the CSO<\/span><\/strong> – The work of the CSO<\/span> is prepared by an Executive Group, previously referred to as JAF<\/span>. The group consisted of the President and the Vice-President of the CSO<\/span> as well as five other delegates from the CSO<\/span> chosen to represent different COST countries for a maximum duration of three years.<\/p>\n\n
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