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The CUPID – COST action encourages Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs).

STSMs are research visits aimed at supporting individual mobility, strengthening existing networks and fostering collaboration between COST Action participants. A STSM should specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of the COST Action, whilst at the same time allowing those partaking in the missions to learn new techniques and methods, gain access to specific facilities or instruments not available in their own institution/organization.

STSMs

• Support capacity building and transfer of knowledge through bilateral/multilateral collaborations;
• Support specific / general topic that can help achieving the Action MoU objectives and deliverables (research coordination);
• Are very flexible and inclusive networking activities crucial to establish new collaborations or reinforce existing collaborations across disciplines and different sectors (e.g., academia and industry / SMEs) with possible impact on career development;
• Outcomes (e.g. spin-off publications and (funded) projects) contribute to the visibility and impact of the COST Actions, encouraging other researchers to join.

Important dates

Application: open continuously (total budget €8000 in grant period 2024) 

Notification of Results: 14 working days after application submission

Mission / Grant Period: 1 April 2024 – 31 July 2024

STSMs must be completed before 31^th July 2024

STSM
Short-Term Scientific Mission consists in a visit to a host organization located in a different country than the country of affiliation (for Affiliation, see Article 4.1.1.1.1) by a researcher or innovator for specific work to be carried out and for a determined period of time.

STSMs benefit to:

• STSM Grantee: receives funding for implementing a project with an international team and gains new knowledge or access to equipment or techniques not available in the home institution;
• STSM Host: receives an international partner in their institution and can develop long lasting collaboration.

Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM) are institutional visits aimed at supporting individual mobility, fostering collaboration between individuals. Financial support may be provided to eligible applicants to carry out STSM that will specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of this COST Action. STSMs must have a minimum duration of 5 calendar days that includes travel. STSM need to be carried out in their entirety within a single Grant Period and always within the Action’s lifetime.

A STSM grant is a fixed contribution based on the budget requested by the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the STSM application by the selection committee (GAC + MC). This grant will not necessarily cover all expenses; it is intended only as a contribution to the travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the Grantee. 

The calculation of this contribution for a STSM must respect the following rules:
– Up to a maximum of EUR 4000 in total can be afforded to each successful applicant; 

– Up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses; 

The appointed STSM (GAC) Coordinator and selection committee should consider and can approve differentiated country rates to cover accommodation and meal expenses based on the perceived cost of living in the host country. Please note the grant will only be paid to the grantee after the STSM has been completed and the STSM report, which is submitted by the grantee, has been approved by the STSM coordinator. It is encouraged that the host advances the financial resources to the applicant and receives reimbursement directly from the COST Action.

Specific provisions have been introduced to enable researchers from ITC (Inclusiveness Target Country) participating in the CUPID COST Action to request a pre-payment of 50% of their STSM Grant when they complete the first day of their STSM. This is payable under 2 conditions: that the GH has sufficient funds to cover 50% of the grant in advance and that the host confirms to the GH that the mission has started. In such case, the representative of the Host Institution must confirm by e-mail to the Grant Holder that the STSM applicant has officially started the mission on day 1. Only then the Grant Holder can arrange the payment of 50% of the STSM grant. The remaining 50% of the Grant is payable once the administrative requirements have been satisfied after the STSM. For the period of the STSM, the Grant Holder of the Action, the Management Committee or the COST Association cannot be considered as being an STSM grantee’s employer. STSM grantees must make their own arrangements for all provisions related to personal security, health, taxation, social security and pension matters.

Application procedure for an STSM

1. It is essential that the STSM relates to the Action’s objectives. The initiative for an STSM can come from either the host or the visiting scientist.
2. The applicant must obtain the written agreement of the host scientist before submitting the application. It is important that the host and the applicant mutually agree on the content of the planned STSM. 
3. The applicant then completes an online application: STSM applications can be made by clicking on the following link STSM, or by logging in e-COST and clicking on “STSM Application” on the menu available on the left. The application page contains:
   1. Applicant details 
   2. STSM details (work plan) -the application must start and end during the same Grant Period (GP), more specifically: STSM must be completed before 31th July 2024.
   3. Bank details
   4. Host details (must be located in a different country than the country of the applicant)
   5. Financial support (indicate if you are applying for a pre-payment of 50% of the Grant – only for applicants from Inclusiveness Target Countries)
   6. Supporting documents: i) letter of support from the Home institution; ii) written agreement from the Host institution that the STSM applicant can perform the activities detailed in the STSM work plan on the agreed dates; iii) CV, including a list of academic publications – if applicable

Evaluation process and result announcement 

The applications will be pre-processed by the STSM coordinator who will then propose a ranked list of applications to the selection committee (MC+GAC). Evaluation will be based on the scientific excellence of the applicant, the research proposal, and the relevance of the work plan for the achievement of CUPID objectives. There should be special considerations with respect to supporting COST policies on promoting gender balance, enabling Early Career Investigators (ECI) and broadening geographical inclusiveness. The selection committee will evaluate the STSMs proposals within a week after the STSMs call deadline and will inform the Grant Holder of the successful evaluated proposals. The successful applicants will then receive a grant letter from the Grant Holder, stating the official approval of the STSM application, the granted budget. The applicant has to notify acceptance of the grant by returning the letter, with his/her signature, a week after receiving the grant letter. If the amount of funding by all applications within a call does not exceed the available budget, the applications are can handled by the STMS coordinator only. The GAC then presents the list to the selection committee which must accept the funding of every application.

Main aim and objective of the CUPID Cost Action

A key challenge is the lack of systematic knowledge across the EU about the degree that cancer prevention strategies respond to the unique cognitive and healthcare needs of people with intellectual disabilities. CUPID knowledge generation will be responsive to the and healthcare needs of people with intellectual disabilities.. This will be achieved through the specific objectives:

Research Coordination

• Creation of a sustainable network of researchers involved in intellectual disabilities, cancer prevention, epidemiology, health sciences, social sciences, education and other adjacent fields, engaged in knowledge exchange. 
• Establish the ‘state of the art’ in terms of national and cross-national co-produced knowledge base, and explore how this could be of benefit in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities.
• Development of a research agenda exploring where the current challenges lie and what targeted research projects and initiatives would be of most benefit to tackle them while being responsive to the unique needs of people with intellectual disabilities.
• Promote new collaborative funding applications from network members including national and EU funding opportunities in the area of cancer prevention strategies. 

Capacity Building 

• The appointment of leads in the network who will be responsible for engaging with researchers and other key stakeholders within and outside the network to develop discussion, explore current thinking and progress thinking in the area both nationally and internationally
• Creation of a database of experts to assist in the planning and conduct of primary research in cancer prevention in the intellectual disabilities populations
• Involve Early Stage Researchers, young researchers and researchers from less research intensive countries in the CUPID network, thus improving their career prospects by supporting researcher mobility and expanding professional networks. 
• Develop and establish both short (Continuous Professional Development) and long term (MSc and PhD) programmes in the emerging areas of interest developed by the activities of the CUPID network 
• Foster collaboration between a diverse network of researchers, including co-researchers from the intellectual disabilities community, that will build capacity to develop joint research initiatives

COST
The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) is a funding organization for the creation of research networks, called COST Actions. These networks offer an open space for collaboration among scientists across Europe (and beyond) and thereby give impetus to research advancements and innovation. 

COST funding intends to complement national research funds, as they are exclusively dedicated to cover collaboration activities, such as workshops, conferences, working group meetings, training schools, short-term scientific missions, and dissemination and communication activities.

After the STSM

The STSM Grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the mission to submit a scientific report to the appointed STSM Coordinator and to a senior researcher affiliated to the Host Institution. Payment of the Grant is subject to a STSM scientific report being approved on behalf of the Action’s MC by the appointed STSM Coordinator and by a senior researcher affiliated to the Host Institution. Written approval of the STSM scientific report by the aforementioned persons must be uploaded in e-COST for archiving purposes. The submission of the supporting documents is mandatory or the Grant is cancelled. Late submission beyond the deadline, can also lead to the cancellation of the Grant and, in cases when a pre-payment was done, the obligatory reimbursement by the grantee of the amount received. A scientific report template is available on the Supporting documents page or online here: http://www.cost.eu/STSM_report_template The STSM grantee must complete this template and save it in pdf before uploading it in eCOST. The host approval of the report can be an email confirming that the STSM took place and the goals outlined in the Work plan were reached. The STSM coordinator is responsible for approving the report. Once approved, payment of the STSM grant will be made by bank-to-bank transfer to either the host institution or the applicant, as requested in the application.

Process overview

1. Applicant creates Grant Application (Apply for new Grant (cost.eu))

For each type of grant an application form will contain different sections, some are pre-filled by e-COST such as Applicant name or Primary Affiliation, others are mandatory to be filled. Grant applications require an active Action Grant Period.

2. After encoding the Grant application form by filling all sections, the applicant also needs to upload the actual application template completed which shall be previously downloaded from the application page. The applicant will need to upload additional supporting documentation for each type of grant.
3. STSM – supporting documentation

1. STSM grant Application (based on e-COST template) 
2. Confirmation of the host on the agreement from the host institution in receiving the applicant 
3. Other documents required by the Action

Short Term Scientific Missions (up to 4000 euro)

Allowable Providing a contribution for travelling, accommodation and subsistence expenses, implementation of the project, delivery of the report to the COST Action MC and overall effort Non-allowable

Grant applicationGrant report

Applicant makes applicationApplication approved by Action Chair/Core GroupGrant Awarding Coordinator approvesGrant Holder Manager approves payment

STSM – Host letter example

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To whom it may concern, 

Hereby I declare that Dr. ……, PhD Student in ……… Sciences at the University of …….. (City, Country) is accepted at HOST INSTITUTION, as a visiting PhD student for a Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) from 19th April to 19th July 2024. Dr ……. will be carrying out a project on ……………. To this aim she will perform ……………….. under my supervision. 

Hereby I declare detailed training workplan and proposed dates have been read, confirmed and approved. I also declare to conform with the COST Action and I express my support to Dr …… application.

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Deadline is 15th of April.