Action ES0702 An Introduction to COST Instruments and Procedures - A COST Office Presentation-

1. Action ES0702An Introduction to COST Instruments and Procedures - A COST Office Presentation- 1st Management Committee Meeting Brussels, 14 May 2008

2. Activities Funded by COST Actions Science management meetings (MC and WG) Scientific Workshops, Seminars, Research Conferences Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) Training Schools General Action Support Grant (GASG) Dissemination (publications)

3. Meeting Types Management Committee (MC):manages the Actions and normally meets 2 per year Core Group:Chair, Vice-Chair and WG Chairs meet as needed Working Group (WG): • 2-4 WGs do the scientific work (key topics/deliverables) • MC members should participate in one of the WGs • WG members selected by the MC • meets before/after MC (reduced expenses) or separately Workshops/Conferences • Reimbursements for Action members (in MC or WGs) • Fair reimbursements numbers per signatory countries • Involves non-COST participants (usually not reimbursed) • Invited non-COST keynote speakers/session-chairs can be reimbursed

4. Eligible Participants I. Management Committees (MC) *all members must be reimbursed • up to 2 MC members per signatory country plus the MC chair. • Nominees of countries intending to sign the MOU can be reimbursed as invited experts, if the MC so chooses II. Working Groups (WG) *all members must be reimbursed • Do not make WGs too big (expensive!) • researchers from signatory can come as needed (invtied experts) III. External experts and invited speakers • External experts can be invited and reimbursed by the MC if their expertise contributes to the objectives of COST. • Experts from non-signatory countries: max 5 per meeting. • Experts from non-COST countries: max 4 per meeting with special role as keynote speaker or session chair.

5. Organisation of Meetings • Early planning saves money! At MC meetings, sketch out the next year’s activities (meeting types, dates, locations and approximate number of reimbursements) • MC approval is required in advance for all activities: via a full vote at an MC; an executive vote at a Core Group meeting, an email vote organized by the Chair; or exceptionally a Chair‘s written decision by email. No MC decision = no activity. • The meeting application „xl template“ with a preliminary programme and a list of participants must be submitted by the MC Chair, WG Leader or local organiser, at least 1 month before the event, for WG/MC and 2 months for Workshops, Conferences

6. Meeting Request Application Form

7. Meeting Support • To provide a contribution to the costs of holding COST meetings • Eligible expenses: meeting rooms, AV rentals, coffee breaks, badges, secretarial support (max 15%), etc • Can fund lunches, etc but attendees will not be reimbursed • Page 2 of the Excel application form must be completed and a supporting MC decision (MC PreApproval statement) recorded • Up to € 10 000 (receipts required) but below €3000 no receipts necessary • Statement from local organizer or chair (MC Post Approval statement) stating that all services were provided as declared on the Excel

8. Travel Reimbursement Form (TRF) • The TRF is sent by COST Office along with the invitation to attend a COST meeting and the Agenda of the meeting • On-line registration for personal and bank details beforethe meeting: www.cost.esf.org/registration • Completed TRF with copy of all relevant travel expenses to be submitted during the meeting, see reimbursement rules. • Receipts for the home journey (taxi, shuttle) to be submitted by e-mail or fax latest by deadline given on invitation email,

9. Travel costs reimbursed by COST? • Economy Airfare tickets (max 1200 Euro) - copies with price, name and routing needed • Train tickets – copies with price needed • Taxi receipts if no local transport is available, copies always needed and if above 40 Euro, additional justification is needed • Local transport (bus-metro-tram…), up to 25 Euro no receipt required if more than 25 Euro, all receipts are needed! • Hotels are reimbursed at a fixed rate of 120 Euro/night • Meals are reimbursed at a fixed rate of 20 Euro/meal provided that they were not offered by the local organiser • Car reimbursement: 0.2 Euro/km. Printout from Via Michelin or Mappy website • All eligible expenses are listed on the second page of your reimbursement form! • Please always ask the COST Office prior to the meeting if you need to deviate from the rules!

10. allow scientists to work in an institution/laboratory in another country (home lab and host lab must be active in Action and in signatory countries) • learn methods or carry out measurements not available in house • exchange information, data, procedures that contribute to the Action • Target group: young scientists, PhD students …but all researchers are eligible • Duration: between 5 days and 3 months max Euro 2500 • Early Stage Researchers (PhD + 10 years) • Funding: fixed grant for travel (< €300) and daily allowance (€60-90/day) • Typical Cost of STSM: about 1000 Euro • Normal STSM Euro 2500, ESR Euro 3500 • Online registration at http://www.cost.esf.org/stsm MC approval required. The Action can create an STSM Committee or allow the Core Group, Chair or an STSM coordinator to approve STSMs. Never go on mission without COST written approval! Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM)

11. STSM - Procedures before the STSM, MC Approval is required as follows: • Subject: STSM Reference number, COST Action number, grantee’s name • On behalf of the Management Committee of the above action, I would like to inform you after evaluation that: • -1- the attached request for an STSM has been approved and • -2- a grant of xxxx EUR has been recommended and • -3- the host institute has accepted the proposal Important steps after the mission: • Applicant sends report approved by the Host to STSM responsible, MC Chair and COST Office, • Evaluation by MC and approval to be sent to COST with standard e-mail, • Payment of the applicant by COST

12. Training Schools • Purpose:to disseminate Action results and provide intensive training in an emerging subject where the Action possesses unique equipment or know how. • Duration:Normally lasts less than 5 days, with a total number of attendees not exceeding 30, and takes place in one of the laboratories linked to the Action. • Reimbursed expenses: • Support for the organization costs (room rental, technical equipment) • Travel and subsistence for lecturers - same as for participants to COST meetings but no lecture fee; • Fixed grants for attendees – amount to be decided by the MC but not normally exceeding 600 € per attendee.

13. Training Schools – Procedures MC Chair sends request to the COST Office with these documents: • MC Approval stating aim of the training school • Detailed programme • Detailed financial support request for the organization of the meeting • List of lecturers with contact details and short C.V. • List of participants with contact details (they are selected by the MC who approves their eligibility for the attendance grant) After reception of these documents COST will send acceptance letters to the local organizer, the lecturers and the participants.

14. General Action Support Grant(GASG) • Grant: up to 2000 EUR upon MC decision • Grant Holder: usually the MC Chair • Support and development of the Action’s Website, to be hosted on the server of one of the institutions represented at the MC • Secretarial support for preparatory events • MC Chair to report on the expenditure of the allocation to the MC.

15. Publications • A key value of COST : dissemination and transfer of knowledge and use of results by industry, policy makers and society. • Two routes are used for COST publications related to Actions : • External Publisher (a respected publisher for high level publications) B) OPOCE (The European Union’s publisher) • The MC approaches the COST Office with a request for publication choosing either option A or B. • All details can be found on the COST guidelines http://www.cost.esf.org/fileadmin/cost_documents/guidelines/Financial_Instruments/7-Publications.pdf

16. Publications - Procedures A) External Publisher • Based on the MC decision, and available budget, the COST Office will confirm the offer. The COST Office has to receive a draft of the publication before it is finally printed. • Upon delivery of the printed publication, the publisher will send the invoice directly to the COST Office. The SO approves the payment. • Details on these procedures as well as templates for offers and invoices are to be found on the COST guidelineshttp://www.cost.esf.org/fileadmin/cost_documents/guidelines/Financial_Instruments/7-Publications.pdf

17. Thank you for your attention. Further questions?