Inclusiveness Target Countries Conference Grants are aimed at supporting Ph.D. students and Early Career Investigators (ECI) from participating ITC to attend international conferences not specifically organized by the COST Action.
Eligibility Criteria
1. The Applicant is either a PhD student or an Early Career Investigator (ECI). Early Career Investigator (ECI) is an individual who is within a time span of up to 8 years from the obtained their Ph.D/doctorate date (full-time equivalent).
2. The Applicant’s primary affiliation in an institution located in an ITC. The ITCs are as follows: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia and Turkey.
3. The Applicant must make an oral/poster presentation at the conference in question and must be listed in the official event/conference program. The main subject of the oral presentation / poster presentation / speech at the approved conference must be on the topic of the Action LOBSTERPOT CA19138 and must acknowledge COST (see COST Vademecum; downloadable on the Publications page).
Additionally
The participation of each Applicant will be pre-approved by the MC of the COST Action LOBSTERPOT CA19138. Attendance at European conferences is preferred.
The priority is always given to applications that are related to currently ongoing Working Groups, submitted by the WG members, and endorsed by the WG leaders.
The submission for ITC conference grant should be made AFTER the abstract has been approved by the conference organizers.
In order to ensure proper distribution of funds we never send more than one person to a single conference (especially if those people are from the same institution/country).
How to apply?
To apply for a Conference Grant within LOBSTERPOT CA19138, please send the following documents (in a single pdf file) to ITC Conference Grants Manager Jelena before the Grant Period deadline:
- a filled ITC application form
- the Applicant’s CV, including recent publications (max. 1 page);
Additionally (if available):
- the most recent conference booklet or leaflet / conference program (especially if the Applicant is listed);
- the invitation from the Organizers (for a keynote presentation, etc.)
Application process
The ITC conference grant evaluation procedure has been approved through e-vote by LOBSTERPOT Management Committee Members. The procedure is as follows:
ITC Conference Grants Call is launched by LOBSTERPOT CA19138 ITC Conference Grants Manager (stating all relevant details of application (WG of reference) and deadline). Please note that current call is ongoing and the applications can be submitted at any time.
After the deadline, a Committee of Reviewers (LOBSTERPOT Committee and ITC Conference Grants Manager) pre-evaluates all submitted applications in the context of their compatibility and relevance with the topic of the Action. The committee also checks if the applicant is a PhD candidate or ECI, and if he/she represents an ITC country.
The result of the pre-approval is the ranking list and the actual number of applications to be funded is determined by the available budget. The ITC Conference Grants Manager confirms available funding with the Grant Manager, and informs successful Applicants about the result of the pre-approval.
The Applicants that were successful during the pre-approval must then formally submit their applications via e-COST.
Action Chair approves the applications that has been successfully pre-approved.
The Grant Holder sends the grant letter.
Pre-evaluation
Your application will be first evaluated by the Chair Committee and by the ITC Conference Grants Manager. Then, if the remaining budget allows to provide funding it will be submitted for approval by the Action Chair. Priority will be given to applications that support the objectives of the Working Packages. Please research the LOBSTERPOT website for details.
It is expected that each ITC grantee will send a copy of their presentation/poster/paper to the ITC Conference Grants Manager to the LOBSTERPOT Action. It will be then disseminated using the official LOBSTERPOT website, social media, etc. The material must be submitted to the ITC Conference Grants Manager by email shortly after the conference. Photographic material from the conference (e.g. the Applicant with the LOBSTERPOT logo in background) might be requested.
Before filling the application, please consult the ITC Conference Grant rules in the COST Vademecum. With any further questions please contact ITC Conference Grants Manager.