ITC Conference Grants
THE PURPOSE
According to Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the COST Action “European Network for Chemical Elemental Analysis by Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence” (ENFORCE-TXRF)CA18130.
ITC Conference Grants are aimed at supporting Young Researchers and Innovators (YRI) affiliated in an Inclusiveness Target Country / Near Neighbour Country (ITC/NNC) to attend international science and technology related conferences, event or activity on the topic of the Action that are not organised by the COST Action. A Conference Grant is a financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the application by the ITC Conferene Grant Committee. Conference Grants do not necessarily cover all of the expenses related to participating in a given conference. A Conference Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the selected Grantee.
The Call for ITC Conference Grants applications is open all time for the running Grant Period
WHO CAN APPLY
Conference Grants are exclusively reserved for PhD students and YRI’s with a primary affiliation in an institution located in an ITC/ NNC.
- PhD students must demonstrate their enrollment in a PhD Course
- The following countries are considered ITC: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia and Turkey
eligibility criteria
- The applicant must make an oral/poster presentation at the conference in question and must be listed in the official event/conference programme. The main subject of the oral presentation / poster presentation / speech at the approved conference must be on the topic of the Action and must acknowledge COST (see Annex 2 of the annotated rules).
- The participation of each applicant must be pre-approved by the Action MC.
- European Conferences are preferred, but conferences elsewhere can be considered as well.
WHAT YOU CAN APPLY FOR
The maximum financial support for the awarded applicant will be 2000 Europer grant for face-to-face conferences or 500 Euro for virtual conferences.
HOW TO APPLY
In order to apply the applicants must carefully read the funding rules detailed herewith and in Annex 2 of the Annotated rules.
One has to note that COST Action makes refunds! No money is available in advance!
The application process is as follows:
- The Applicant will first need to ‘create e-COST account’ (if do not have already one) – which willinclude the details of the bank account where the grant will be lodged if your ITC application isapproved and the conference, event or action successfully completed.
- The Applicant must complete in English and submit an application using e-COST account: https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants/add?type=ITCG.
- The Grant Awarding Coordinator will be notified of the request and will approve or reject the request.
- If the request is approved the GH is notified and sends out the Grant Letter on e-COST.
- The Applicant has to go on e-COST account to ITC Conference Grants and click ApprovedApplications and then Activate the application and verify details and click Send Grant Letter.
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN APPLICATION?
The application form to the COST Action (CA18130 should include:
- Application form available on e-Cost;
- Under the other documents required by the action
- A short Resume (max. 2 A4 – sized pages of single-spaced text in Times New Roman font size 12);
- A copy of the abstract submitted to the conference;
- Proof of acceptance of the abstract by the conference for an oral/poster presentation;
- A letter of recommendation from the supervisor of the candidate;
- A budgetary breakdown of the full Conference costs and the needed funds required for the participation to the Conference (with screen shots of travel booking web sites substantiating each expense, printouts or screenshots of the conference web site confirming the effective registration fee, list of meals included in the registration fee).
Candidates are to keep one complete copy of the entire application with original signatures in paper form.
EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR AWARDING ITC Conference Grant
The ITC Conference Grant Committee of the Action will make the scientific and budgetary assessment and decision of the application. The ENFORCE TXRF ITCs Conference Grant Committee consists of the Grant Awarding Coordinator and the Core Group. External advice may be sought.
Any member of the ITC Conference Grant Committee will not be involved in the assessment of proposals in which they have a personal or financial interest.
ITC Selection Criteria. General Criteria (weight 2)
- The ITC Conference Grant serves for the exchange and acquisition of know-how;
- Usefulness of the Conference selected to help to develop the career of the applicant;
- Scientific quality of the abstract submitted;
- Involvement of the candidate in the COST Action CA 18130;
- Benefit for the COST Action CA 18130 ;
- The application serves the goal of fostering collaboration in the field of TXRF analysis, in particular, establishing new scientific contacts;
- The application should be financially justified meaning that the estimate of the expenses is reasonable.
Criteria taken into account for the final decision (weight 1)
- Justification of the application budget
- No previous ITC Conference Grant by the same applicant
- No previous ITC Conference Grant by the same home laboratory for a fair spread of researches across the network
- Geographical distribution of applicants across the ITC Conference Grant
- Gender balance across the ITC Conference Grant
Subjective criteria based on the quality of the applicant and the letter of motivation (weight 1)
deadlines
There is NO DEADLINE. Applications can be submitted all over the Action duration. It is recommended to apply as soon as possible after notification of abstract acceptance.
GUIDELINES FOR GRANT PAYMENT
The Grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the Conference in question to submit either a certificate of attendance and/or a report to the ITC Conference Grant Committee and the Action’s Grant Holder.
Mandatory Acknowledgements:
Successful conference grant holders must properly acknowledge their COST financial support, received through the ENFORCE TXRF COST Action CA18130, in their published work (paper, proceeding) as well as on the presentation slides. The ENFORCE TXRF logo has to be put on each slides and presentation support.
Step after the Conference
The grantee is required to submit a scientific report (min 5, max 10 A4-sized pages of single-spaced text in Times New Roman font size 12) to the ITC Conference Grant Committee, within 30 days after the end date of the ITC
The report should describe:
- The outcome of the presentation of the accepted contribution, in terms of grantee’s visibility, including the establishment of new contacts for future collaborations
- The certificate of attendance,
- The programme of the conference or book of abstracts / proceedings indicating the presentation (oral or poster) of the grantee
- Copy of the given presentation (oral or poster), in pdf;
- Other comment (if any)
The failure to submit the scientific report within 30 days will effectively cancel the grant. Please note that the COST Association can request additional information to substantiate the information contained within the documents submitted by ITC applicants and grantees.
(Please note that the COST Association can request additional information to substantiate the information contained within the documents submitted by ITC applicants).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Please add the following acknowledgement in your paper/presentation:“Part of this work was supported by the COST Action CA18130 ENFORCE-TXRF”
Send a copy of the article, abstract or other to the Action Chair.
Contacts
If you have any queries you may contact ITC Conference Grant Committee at enforceTXRF@gmail.com
