ONWARD CONFERENCE GRANTS call

A Conference Grant is a fixed financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the application by the delegated person(s). Conference Grants do not necessarily cover all the expenses related to participating in a given conference. A Conference Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, conference fee, accommodation and meal expenses of the selected Grantee.

Open calls will be published on the official COST Action webpage (https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA24140) until the ONWARD website is operational.

All applications must always be submitted via e-COST, even if the call text is promoted elsewhere.

All scientific output supported by the CA24140 ONWARD conference grant program must contain the following acknowledgement: This work is based upon work from COST Action CA24140, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

CA 24140 ONWARD has planned three categories of conference grants: ITC conference grants, YRI conference grants and Dissemination Conference (DC) grants.

Conference dates should be between 01.12. and 01.09. of the current grant period in order to guarantee the reporting and payment within the current grant period until 31.10.

The limit per Grant for face-to-face meetings is EUR 1.200. If higher costs are justifiable for very specific cases, this will be evaluated if applied and could be maximum EUR 2.000 according the COST rules.

ONWARD applies the COST limits within the maximum ceilings set by COST of up to €2 500 for face-to-face events and €500 for online events.

ITC (Inclusiveness Target Country) Grants (planned budget €5.000/ Grants available ~4): ITC Conference Grants provide financial support for participation in high-level conferences organised by third parties to members from ITC countries. The aims are to present the Applicant’s own work related to the Action, and establish new contacts for future collaborations.

ITC countries list: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, North Macedonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia & Turkey.

YRI (Young Researcher and Innovator) Grants (planned budget €5.000/ Grants available ~4): Young Researcher & Innovator Conference Grants provide financial support for participation in high-level conferences organised by third parties. The aims are to present the Applicant’s own work and establish new contacts for future collaborations. Grants are limited to YRIs (up to an age of 40 years).

DC (Dissemination Conference) Grants (planned budget  €7.000/ Grants available ~6): Through this grants we support presentation of the work of the Action at an international conference by any  member of the Action(not restricted like ITC and YRI Grants).

Pre conference steps (procedure)

To apply for an Conference Grant within ONWARD, please go through the following procedure:

Step 1 – Contact the Grant Holder Representative (Mr. Marcos Núñez Navarro: marcos.nunez@imibic.org) with a Cc to the Training Task Force Leader Prof. Dr. Sandra Mojsova (kostova.sandra@fvm.ukim.edu.mk) and Training Task Force – Co-Leader Dr. Arjana Zerja (zerja.arjana@gmail.com) to inquire about the availability of funding.

Step 2 – If funding is available, login to the on-line registration tool to register the request for a Conference Grant (https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants). You may need to register and to upload your CV as well as other documents, including:

• Conference grant application (based on e-COST template and type of the grant)

https://www.cost.eu/YRICG-application-template

https://www.cost.eu/ITCG-application-template

https://www.cost.eu/DisseminationConference_GrantApplication

• Copy of the abstract of the presentation

• Acceptance letter from the conference organizers (if possible, if not, please upload it after the conference)
• Description of the quality and excellence of the conference, highlighting the relevance of the conference to the objectives of ONWARD COST Action (0.5 page maximum)
• A letter of motivation by the applicant with a detailed explanation about how the attendance to this conference will contribute to the Grantee’s career (0.5 page maximum). In addition, please indicate the working group of the COST Action to which the work presented belongs.
• Requested budget and its justification, including total expected cost for( travel, accommodation and daily allowance, and additional financial support, 0.5 page maximum).
• Short Bio and CV of the applicant (1 page maximum).

Step 3 – The application is assessed  within 15 days by the Grant Awarding Coordinator (Prof. Dr. Reimar Johne) and the Training Task Force. If accepted, they will inform the Grant Holder. All evaluations will comply with the COST Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality policy.

Step 4 – Cost Office Acceptance Letter (Grant Letter). If the application is successful, the Grant Holder (GH) sends an Acceptance letter to the Applicant, in which the Applicant is informed about the approval of the Conference Grant and the level of financial support awarded.

Post conference steps (procedure)

Reports must be submitted within 30 days after the end of the activity or within 15 days after the end of the Grant Period, whichever comes first. The Grantee is required to submit the report and other supporting documents on e-COST, including:

• Report using the Report template (depending on the type of grant) on the outcome of the presentation of the accepted contribution, in terms of grantee’s visibility, including the establishment of new contacts for future collaborations

https://www.cost.eu/YRICG-report-template

https://www.cost.eu/ITCG-report-template

https://www.cost.eu/DisseminationConference_Report

• Certificate of attendance
• Programme of the conference or book of abstracts / proceedings indicating the presentation of the Grantee
• Copy of the given oral/poster presentation

After approval of the report by the Grant Awarding Coordinator, the Training Task Force Leader and the Training Task Force Co-Leader, the Grant Holder will transfer the approved amount of the grant. All evaluations will comply with the COST Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality policy.

Grantees will be required to write a short report of their experience to be published in the newsletter and to contribute with content (posts, pictures, short videos…) for the Action social media and Website.

For further details please consult the official guide at https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2025/01/COST-Grant-Awarding-user-guide.pdf.