cHIPSet STSM Call for 7 grants (deadline 10th of September)

 FOR UPDATED VERSION PLEASE VISIT: www.chipset-cost.eu/index.php/stsm/

In the starting up meeting at Brussels, we MC approved to issue 10 grants for Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM) for a total amount of 20.000 euros for the 1st year. It has been confirmed by the science officer Federica Ortelly, that this budget estimation can be adapted (up to a certain point) in order to serve the candidates in the best way we may manage.

Find next a proposal to manage the STSM grants for this first year period of the COST Action.

1. Grants

We define an indicative amount per time duration of the grant according to the next table:

These values are an orientation and, in justified cases, could be increased (maintaining COST support rules) depending mainly on the estimated living cost in the destination requested. In any case, STSM must respect COST criteria:

1. They must have a minimum duration of 5 days.
2. They must have a maximum duration of 90 days.
3. STSM needs to be carried out in their entirety within a single Grant Period and always within the Action’s lifetime.

Specific additional provisions will be adopted to encourage the participation of Early Career Investigators (ECI) in STSM. To qualify for these specific provisions, the following conditions apply:

1. The mission must have a minimum duration of 91 days.
2. The mission must have a maximum duration of 180 days.
3. STSM performed by ECI need to be carried out in their entirety within a single Grant Period and always within the Action’s lifetime.

The calculation of the financial contribution for each STSM must respect the following criteria:

• up to a maximum of EUR 2.500 in total can be afforded to each successful STSM applicant;
• up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses.

For ECIs, the calculation for an increased financial contribution must respect the following criteria:

• up to a maximum of EUR 3 500 in total can be afforded to ECIs for missions with a duration of between 91 and 180 days;
• up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses.

2. Number of grants

This 1^st year of the COST Action there will be two calls, one in September and another one in January. For the first call 7 grants for an average of EUR 2.000 will be considered, and a global budget of EUR 14.000.

3. Submission procedure and associated documents

Candidates must send an email to <J.C.Burguillo@uvigo.es> with the subject <CHIPSET: STSM GRANT> within the deadlines, filling a template located in the CHIPSET Website (http://chipset-cost.eu, Action Activities).
Besides filling the application form, every candidate must provide two extra documents:

• an invitation letter from the host institution for the period requested.
• an estimation of the costs for the travel expenses and hosting. This can be done using telematic tools (Booking, Expedia, etc.) or a budget provided by a university residence, for instance. These costs must be realistic, can be checked out, and can be used to define the final amount of the grant to be provided.

4. Deadline and grant period

The deadline for submitting the request to this call will be the 10th of September (for the application form) and the 25th of September (for the extra documentation). The period to perform the whole grant must fit within the interval starting the 1st of October and ending the 10th of April.

5. Evaluation

The STSM coordinator will perform a priori evaluation for each grant, in case there are missing documents. Then he will issue a grant concession proposal to be discussed by the evaluation committee composed by: the STMS coordinator, the working group leaders and the scientific coordinator of the COST Action.

The evaluation committee eventually will reach a common agreement avoiding conflict of interest in case of participant institutions. Afterwards, the agreement proposed by the evaluation committee will be validated by the Managing Committee.

The rules for ranking the applicants will be decided according with the priorities stated by the Vademecum considering: the number of candidates, number of ECI applicants, the PhD students, gender balance, working group balance, etc.

After evaluation, there will be a list of approved grants, and another one with substitutes, in case of any applicant from the first list does not finally use the grant and resigns on time. Special measure can be taken with candidates that do not resign on time or use incorrectly the grant provided.

After performing the grant, the candidates have to provide their boarding passes, together with a report from the hosting institution.