COST is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology established to initiate networking and coordination of nationally funded research activities on a European level. It facilitates bringing good scientists together under light strategic guidance based on networks, called COST Actions, centred around research projects in fields that are of interest to COST countries and cooperating countries.

All conferences will take place on the campus “Plaine de Nimy” of UMONS, in building Vésale, avenue du champs de mars 6, 7000 Mons, Belgium

Location

TRANSPORT: If your flight arrives at Charleroi Airport (Brussels South)

If you arrive at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, you have two main options to reach Mons.

1. Shuttle Service: The most affordable is a shuttle bus service that connects the airport directly to Mons in approximately 50 minutes, with a ticket price of €13.50. Once you arrive at the drop-off point in Mons, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes on foot to reach the city centre. More information: https://www.flibco.com/en.
2. Taxis: Alternatively, taxis and ride-sharing services are available for a faster, though more expensive, journey. Prices generally range between €50 and €100 depending on the time and provider. Advance booking is strongly recommended. We can recommend Navette Devos. (based in Mons).

TRANSPORT: If your flight arrives at Brussels Airport

1. Train: If your flight lands at Brussels Airport, you can take a direct train to Mons departing straight from the airport, with services running approximately every hour. The train ride takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes, and a standard adult ticket costs around €25. You can consult schedules and purchase tickets via the SNCB website.
2. Shuttle Service or Taxi: Shuttle services or taxis are also available. Prices and availability may vary and advance booking is strongly recommended. We can recommend Navette Devos.

The selection criteria for participants that will be eligible for reimbursement will comply with the COST Excellence and Inclusiveness Policy, in the implementation of the Action and will encourage attendance by a diverse selection of participants in consideration of:

1. Underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities. Priority will be given to underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities.

2. Gender balance.

3. The level of involvement of Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs). Priority will be given to participants form Inclusiveness Target Countries. The current list of ITCs include: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

4. The level of involvement of Early Career Investigators (ECIs). Priority will be given to PhD students and young post-doctoral researchers, followed by senior post-doctoral researchers and professors.

5. In addition, workshop organizers may also consider other special attributes such as:

i) type, or level of expertise in the field of the Workshop based on the curriculum vitae,

ii) appropriate core knowledge and understanding

iii) willingness to participate based on the motivation letter,

iv) demonstrated interest based on the motivation letter,

v) the positive impact that the participation will have on applicant’s future carrier and

vi) willingness to make a presentation in the Workshop session.

Financial support through reimbursement does not necessarily cover all expenses. A fixed daily allowance of EUR 150 is available for participants. In addition, for travel:

• Up to a maximum of EUR 400 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant from ITC country.
• Up to a maximum of EUR 300 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant from non-ITC country.
• Up to a maximum of EUR 100 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant from Belgium (for travel over a distance of 100 km).

Note that locals (from Belgium) cannot claim travel reimbursement. This financial contribution must be understood as financial aid aimed to help applicants to cover the
expenses of their participation in the Workshop. This financial aid does not aim to cover 100% of the expenses. When claiming costs in e-COST, please consider that claims higher than the values provided above will be asked for modifications, so please make your claim as accurate as possible to avoid unnecessary delays in the payment.

Please see COST General Annotated Rules to be reimbursed.

If the amount of reimbursement by all applications within a call does not exceed the available budget, the applications are handled by the selection committee. If there are more applications than funding is available, the following procedure takes place.

1. A list of all applications (containing an informative summary) is distributed to all members of the selection committee in form of a table in which every evaluator can mark which applications he or she can evaluate according to their field of expertise.
2. To guarantee a fair and objective evaluation, an evaluator should have no affiliation with neither the home nor the host institution of the application in question.
3. All applications are evaluated by two members of the selection committee. The Grant Awarding coordinator distributes the proposals to the individual evaluators.
4. The criteria given in the table below shall be applied for evaluation. The first criterion (a) is assessed by the Grant Awarding coordinator prior to the evaluation process.

5. The evaluators report their evaluations to the Grant Awarding coordinator.
6. The Grant Awarding coordinator ranks all evaluations and then reports the final result to the selection committee to be discussed and accepted.
7. The applicants are informed about the decision reached.