ITC Conference consists in a presentation of the own work given by a Young Researcher and Innovator (a researcher/innovator under age of  40) affiliated in an Inclusiveness Target Country / Near Neighbour Country for their participation in high-level conferences fully organized by a third party, i.e. not organized nor co-organized by the COST Action

ITC Conference:
• Serve COST Excellence and Inclusiveness Policy;
• Support Young Researchers and Innovators affiliated in a legal entity in an Inclusiveness Target Countries/ Near Neighbour Countries to establish a strong network and increase their visibility
in the research community through sharing their work and to gain knowledge;
• Can contribute to increasing visibility of the Action.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE
– Application shall be submitted online in e-COST using dedicated forms available. In this regard, applicants are informed that their application can be accessed by the holders of leadership positions and any evaluation committees in the Action for evaluation purposes.
– Applicants must upload their CV in their e-COST profile. This information will be visible to the by the holders of leadership positions and any evaluation committees in the Action for evaluation purposes.

THE CONTENT OF THE APPLICATION:
To be filled in e-COST:
– Title of the presentation
– Conference title, date (within the active Grant Period) and country;
– Budget requested;
– Attendance Type (face to face or virtual).

To be uploaded to e-COST:
– Application form (template available on e-COST) describing: Relevance of the conference topic to the Action and Motivation describing the potential for impact on the applicant’s career.
– Copy of the abstract of the accepted oral or poster presentation;
– Acceptance letter from the conference organisers;
– Other documents required by the Action (e.g. recommendation letter, etc.).

REPORTING AND CLAIM FOR PAYMENT OF THE GRANT
– Once the activity has ended, the grantee submits the required reports and relevant documentation in e-COST within 30 days after the end date of the activity or 15 days after the
end of the Grant Period, whichever date comes first;
– Claims the payment of the grant via e-COST;

The required report/documentation for claiming a STSM Grant is:

  1. report to the Action MC 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;
  2. the certificate of attendance,
  3. the programme of the conference or book of abstracts / proceedings indicating the presentation (oral or poster) of the grantee o copy of the given presentation (oral or poster);
  4.  copy of the given presentation (oral or poster).

FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
ITC conference grant is paid by the Grant Holder after the completion of the activity and approval of all required report/documentation.

Conference Grants do not necessarily cover all of the expenses related to participating in a given conference. A ITC conference grant providing contribution for travelling, accommodation and subsistence expenses, registration fee, printing of scientific poster and overall effort.

Amount of ITC conference grant*:
– Up to EUR 2 000,00 per grant for face to-face conferences.
– Up to EUR 500.00 for virtual conferences

* Decided by the Action MC or Core Group on proposal of the evaluators and should reflect the duration and location of the Conference.

For more info check the COST Annotated rules.