COST – Part 1, Overview
Wendy Simpson, UK COST National Coordinator
Wolverhampton University
11 February 2015
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What is COST?
• European Cooperation in Science and Technology
• Funds networking of nationally funded research
projects across Europe and beyond
• One instrument: the COST Action – network of
researchers
• Established 1971with a few Actions to 340 running
Actions in 2014
• Bottom-up – open to all disciplines and all
categories of partners
• Key principles – excellence and inclusiveness
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Which countries can participate?
• 36 COST countries
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EU member states
EU candidates and potential candidates
Other countries: Norway and Switzerland
COST Cooperating state: Israel
• COST near neighbour countries (17):
– Balkan countries
– Mediterranean countries
– Eastern European Countries
• International partner countries
COST Countries
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COST Near Neighbour Countries
231 participations in running COST Actions accros 17 countries
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Albania (19)
Algeria (6)
Armenia (10)
Azerbaijan (5)
Belarus (5)
Egypt (10)
Georgia (4)
Jordan (2)
Lebanon (4)
Moldova (5)
Montenegro (15)
Morocco (16)
Palestinian Authority (4)
Syrian Arab Republic (2)
Russia (58)
Tunisia (16)
Ukraine (50)
October 2014 data
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International Partner Countries
519 participations in running Actions across 29 countries
October 2014 data
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A little bit of history
• Established 1971 – intergovernmental framework
for transnational co-operation in Science and
Technology
• Used to receive funding via an intermediary, no
direct relationship with the EU Commission
• COST Association set up in September 2013 with
all COST Countries as members
• Framework Partnership agreement with the
Commission to receive funding from Horizon 2020
• Changes to submission and evaluation process
COST in key figures (2014)
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>340 Running Action
45.000 European researchers involved in COST
Actions’ activities
18.000 participations in COST activities involving EarlyCareer Investigators (<PhD 8 years)
2550 Short-term scientific missions
4000 Trainees involved in training schools
8600 researchers involved in proposal in the last
collection Sept 2014(845 eligible proposals; 40 funded)
€300 Million budget from Horizon 2020
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New improved COST
• COST Association
• Truly “bottom-up”
– All fields of research, especially trans-disciplinary,
new and emergent fields
– No longer have to fit proposals into one of none
domains
• More transparent and accountable
• Single stage proposal of 15 pages (formerly a
preliminary and full proposal)
• New Scientific committee – scientific and technological
adviser to COST
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Inclusiveness
• H2020 funding emphasises importance of
widening participation of less research intensive
COST countries.
• Aim is to encourage these countries to set up
and/or join COST Actions and be more involved in
all COST activities
• Already a good story to tell – 41% of COST
participants from these countries
• COST Actions should have a plan towards
inclusiveness that is revised and updated regularly
COST “inclusiveness target” Countries *
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Other COST Policies
• Increased participation of early career investigators
(PhD + up to 8 years). For example:
– leadership roles in the Action structure; benefiting
from training schools
– in the UK there has been a threefold increase in the
number of ECIs participating since 2011
• Gender balance
• International cooperation
– Involvement of near neighbour countries and
international partner countries
• Encourage SME and industry participation
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COST proposals
• Open call with two collection dates; March and
September
• Next collection date 24 March 2014
• Open to all fields of Science and Technology
including Social Sciences and Humanities
• Must include researchers from 5 COST countries
• Should have own research funding
• More information and on-line submission tool at
http://www.cost.eu/participate/open_call
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COST Actions
• Networking tools
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Management Committee meetings
Working Group meetings
Scientific Workshops and Seminars
Training Schools
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM)
Dissemination and publications
• More information in COST H2020 Vademecum
(www.cost.eu/particpate/networking)
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What’s the budget
• Flat-rate scheme so Action’s budget depends on:
– The activities planned
– The number of participating countries
• Average of €130K p.a. for 4 years (22 countries)
• Some examples:
– Accommodation is €120 max
– Meal is €20
• Some funding can be allocated for admin support
• Budget managed by the Grant Holder
• More information in Vademecum
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Management Committee and Working
Groups
• Management Committee
– Manages the Action
– Chair usually the lead proposer
– Two members per country (plus substitutes)
– CNC nominates MC members and substitutes (new
and existing actions)
• Working Groups
– Where scientific or academic work is done
– Up to 6 WGs per Action, usually 2 WG members per
country
– WG membership decided by the MC
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Example of a COST Action
• Parrotnet:
• European network in invasive parakeets – led by
Dr Jim Groombridge, University of Kent
 Parakeets are an ‘Invasive Alien Species’ in Europe
 Cause of biodiversity loss – major risk to risk to
agriculture and society
 Cost European economy €12.5-20 billion/year
 Urgent need for pan-European co-ordination to
understand and manage associated risks
ParrotNet: Why COST?
 Plenty of research on parakeets, but a lack of
cohesion across Europe
 Urgent need to:
• Integrate natural and social science research
• Standardise existing data
• Upscale measurement of impacts
• Harmonize methodologies and data protocols
• Develop bespoke solutions that can inform
policy effectively
ParrotNet: Aims of COST
Help understand why parakeets are such
successful invaders
Be able to predict economic, societal and
ecological impacts accurately
Create a virtual European Monitoring Centre for
monitoring invasive parakeets
Transfer results to policy and management action
ParrotNet: Aims of COST
Interdisciplinary
platform
Short-term
scientific
missions
Regular
meetings
(physical
and virtual)
Production
of highquality
publications
and outputs
Knowledge
transfer at
workshops,
conferences
Linking with
non-EU
countries
(e.g. Indian
Ocean)
Outreach
activities
Direct
involvement
of
stakeholders
Creation of
European
Monitoring
Centre
ParrotNet: The Network
 Austria
 Turkey
Denmark
• Population
estimation
(BAS)
United Kingdom
•Evolutionary genetics (DICE)
•Population genetics (DICE)
•Disease screening (DICE)
•Public attitudes (ICL)
•Evolutionary ecology of
invasion (ZSL)
•Occupancy modeling (NCSE)
Bulgaria
Netherlands
• Habitat selection
(SOVON)
Germany
• Population
genetics (MPIO)
Estonia
France
• Morphological
adaptation
(MNHN)
• EU-wide
monitoring (UFZ)
Spain
Portugal
• Ecology of
invasive
birds (CIBIOICETA)
• Evolutionary
adaptation
(UPO)
• Genetics of
invasiveness
(CSIC)
Poland
• Population
estimation
(BAS)
• Population
estimation
Slovenia
• Population
estimation
Italy
• IAS spatial
ecology (US)
• IAS
management
(CSN)
Israel
Greece
• Population distribution
(HOS)
• IAS surveys (HOS)
• Humans and
IAS (HUJ)
• IAS
interactions
(HUJ)
ParrotNet: The Organisation
Management Committee
 Chair, Vice-Chair, Admin Officer, Working Group
Chairs, STSM managers, two members/country
 Physical meeting every six months (local support
committee)
 Virtual (Skype) meeting every two months
Four Working Groups (WP 1-4)
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Meet every six months
Organise two workshops
Allocate and manage two STSMs/year
Early-stage researchers encouraged to lead
Thirteen Tasks
 Each task has a scheduled milestone
ParrotNet: The Benefits
 Large scale network funding
 Great way to bring people together (who might
not otherwise be able to)
 Offers exciting opportunities for early career
researchers
 Excellent way to bring about ‘impact’ and ensure
research has application to wider society
 Way to build a network and target future Horizon
2020 funding
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Targeted networks
• 4 targeted networks exploring specific policy strategies:
– Gender STE - Gender, Science, Technology and Environment
http://www.cost.eu/about_cost/strategy/targeted_networks/genderst
e
– Sci-generation – Next Generation of Young Scientists: Towards a
Contemporary Spirit of R&I
http://www.cost.eu/about_cost/strategy/targeted_networks/scigeneration
– BESTPRAC: The Voice of Research Administrators – Building a
Network of Administrative Excellence
http://www.cost.eu/about_cost/strategy/targeted_networks/bestprac
– Capabal – Capacity Building in Forest Policy and Governance in
the Western Balkan Region
http://www.cost.eu/about_cost/strategy/targeted_networks/capabal
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Joining an existing Action
• Two ways to participate:
– Ask CNC to consider nominating you to the
Management Committee as a member (if there is a
vacancy) or as a substitute. Will be asked to submit
your CV; and/or
– Contact the UK Management Committee members
or the Chair to ask about joining a working group –
find details via http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions
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COST in the UK
• UK participating in all running COST Actions
• Lead proposer in over 18% of cases
• UK generally has the highest number of successful COST
Actions for each call
• For 2014 significant increases in
– Money transferred to UK from COST Action’s networking budget
(threefold increase since 2011)
– Number of UK participants (more than twofold increase since 201)1
– Number of UK Early Career Investigators participating in 2014
(almost threefold increase since 2014)
• Cost National Coordinator
– Answers enquiries – cost@bis.gov.uk
– Nominates UK Management Committee members
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Submission and evaluation of proposals
- Overview
• Submission of proposals
– via the new e-COST online submission tool
– First collection date 24 March at 12 noon (CET)
• New evaluation of proposals:
– Evaluation by independent External Experts
– Revision of evaluations by Review Panels
– Selection by new Scientific Committee
Back at c.12 noon with more information about this
COST – Part 2, The Evaluation Process
Wendy Simpson, UK COST National Coordinator
Wolverhampton University
11 February 2015
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Overview
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Submission of proposal
Evaluation by independent External Experts
Revision by Review Panels
Selection by Scientific Committee
Approval by the Committee of COST Senior
Officials (CSO)
• After approval:
– Nomination of MC members for approved proposals
– First Management Committee meeting (the kick-off
meeting)
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Submission of proposal
• On-line submission tool at
http://www.cost.eu/participate/open_call
• Section on General Features (title, summary etc)
• Technical Annex of up to 15 pages:
– S&T Excellence
– Impact
– Implementation
• Guidelines available at:
http://www.cost.eu/participate/open_call
• Meet the deadline; March 24, 12 noon (CET)
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Eligibility criteria
 Represent a network of proposers from at least 5 COST
Countries or Cooperating State
 Be coordinated by a Main Proposer in a COST Country
 Be anonymous - not contain any reference to the names and/or
institutions of the participants in the network of proposers
 Address science and technology challenges destined only for
peaceful purposes
 Respect word or page limits as described in the SESA
Guidelines
 Be written in English, the working language of the COST
Association
 Not be identical with another submitted proposal
Proposal Sections
GENERAL
FEATURES
TECHNICAL
ANNEX
REFERENCES
Online tool
Mandatory
PDF
Mandatory
Online tool
Optional
COST MISSION & Online tool
POLICIES
Mandatory
NETWORK of
PROPOSERS
Online tool
Mandatory
 Key Expertise needed for Evaluation
 Fields and Subfields of Science and
Technology plus Key words
 MAX 15 Pages
 Anonymity
 3 sections: S&T Excellence, Impact,
Implementation
 Figures and Pictures – Copyright
 500 words
 Anonymity
 500 words
 Inclusiveness Policy
 Innovation Union Goals
 Minimum 5 researchers from 5 COST
COUNTRIES
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Evaluation by External Experts
• Three independent experts from large pool closely
matched to subject area of proposal
• Anonymous, consensus oriented
• Evaluation criteria:
S&T Excellence
Soundness of the
challenge
Progress beyond the stateof-the-art and innovation
potential
Added value of networking
Impact
Scientific technological and/or
socio-economic impact
Implementation
Coherence and effectiveness of the work
plan
Measures to maximise impact
Appropriateness of management
structures and procedures
Level of risk and level of potential
innovation/breakthroughs
Total mark for this section:
Total mark for this section:
25 points
20 points
Total possible marks – 65 points
Network as a whole
Total mark for this section:
20 points
Overall threshold – 45 points (proposals below the threshold will not be funded)
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S&T Excellence
• Challenge
– Description of the challenge
– Relevance and timeliness
• Objectives (clear & pertinent to tackle the challenge)
– Research Coordination Objectives
– Capacity-building objectives
• Progress beyond the state-of-the-art & Innovation Potential
– Description of the state-of-the-art
– Progress beyond the state-of-the art
– Innovation in tackling the challenge
• Added value of networking
– In relation to the Challenge
– In relation to existing efforts at European &/or international level
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Impact
• Expected Impact
– Short-term & long-term scientific, technological,
and/or socio-economic impacts
– Measures to Maximise Impact
• Plan for involving the most relevant stakeholders
– Dissemination and/or Exploitation Plan
• Potential for Innovation versus Risk level
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Implementation
• Description of the Work Plan (risks/contingencies)
– Description of Working Groups
– GANTT Diagram
– PERT (optional)
• Management structures and procedures (are they
appropriate)
– Network as a whole (added value)
• References (optional, need to maintain anonymity)
• COST Mission and Policies
• Network of proposers
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Revision by Review Panels
• Quality check and resolve potential differences of opinion
• Pool of review panel experts; 3 from each COST Country
in 6 scientific fields, nominated by CNC
– Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Medical
and Health Sciences, Agricultural Science, Social
Science, Humanities
• Ad-hoc panels based on proposals
• Review & validate reports and marks, rank proposals
above the threshold
• Identify proposals indicating emerging issues or potentially
important future developments
• Feedback to all proposers at this stage
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Selection by Scientific Committee
• Select proposals from the ranked list by
discriminating among proposals with the same
marks, taking into account COST aims and
policies
• Balanced COST Action portfolio, by ensuring
coverage of all S&T fields
• One member of Committee from each COST
Country – high-level expert nominated by each
country.
• Committee also acts as scientific and
technological adviser to COST
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Approval and after
• Approval by the CSO
– Usually given without any issues being raised
• Nomination of Management Committee members
– By the country’s COST National Coordinator (CNC)
– Should be contacted with c.2 weeks of approval; no
need to contact the CNC (October 2015)
• First Management Committee meeting (the kick-off
meeting)
– Organised by the COST Office (a few months later)
– Expenses reimbursed by the COST Office
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Last recommendations
 Strong competition: be ambitious
 Start: start early – a proposal needs time and evolution
 Become acquainted with the COST Open Call:
Submission, Evaluation, Selection and Approval
(SESA) guidelines
 If you have the chance, then have a native speaker check
the English
 BUT - Perfect English is not necessary, it is the clarity +
consistency which counts and increases your chances
 Be smart!! the technical annex only 15 pages!!
 …………
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Become an independent External Expert
• Contribute to the evaluation of COST proposals;
• Participate in the assessment of Action results and
outcomes;
• Take part in the assessment of COST strategic
activities.
• Gain insight into the latest scientific and
technological developments;
• Contribute to the success of COST
• More information and how to apply http://www.cost.eu/participate/experts
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More information
• COST website – www.cost.eu
• Enquiries to UK CNC – cost@bis.gov.uk
• Enquiries to COST – opencall@cost.eu
Useful documents:
• COST 133/14 B1: COST Action Proposal, Submission,
Evaluation, Selection and Approval
(http://www.cost.eu/participate)
• COST Open Call: Submission, Evaluation, Selection and
Approval (SESA) Guidelines
(http://www.cost.eu/participate/open_call)
• COST H2020 Vademecum (financial
rules)(http://www.cost.eu/participate/networking)