What are STMSs?

Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM) are exchange visits aimed at aimed at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, allowing participant to learn new techniques, to have access to data/instruments/methods not available in their own institution and foster collaboration resulting in joint publications. Every STSM should specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of the NeuralArchCon (The neural architecture of consciousness) CA18106 COST Action.

Who can apply?

STSMs are open for PhD students, postdocs, and advanced career researchers employed at institutions in countries participating in the NeuralArchCon action, or at approved institutions. STSMs must be performed between COST countries – researchers cannot apply for an STSM within their own country.

What can you apply for?

STSMs must have a minimum duration of 5 days (including travel). The STSMs are fixed grants to cover travel expenses and living allowance¹. Other costs, including those directly related to the research are not eligible.

The calculation of the financial contribution for each STSM must respect the following criteria:

• Up to a maximum of €3500 in total can be awarded per STSM;
• Up to a maximum of €160 per day can be awarded (but never exceeding the limits above).
• Up to a maximum of €300 for travel costs (but never exceeding the limits above).

The selection of successful STSM applicants will be done in consideration of:

• relevance to Action’s goals and priorities as describe above.
• the scientific scope of the proposed mission.
• relevance of the mission to the scientific objectives of the NeuralArchCon Action; in particular, how the proposal is related to a specific Working Group of the Action;
• feasibility of the work plan, including the quality of the host institution;
• the academic excellence of the candidate (or promise of excellence in case of the ECIs).

Top priority is given to STSMs that aim to:

• Design, implement, and pilot base experimental paradigm packages (joint projects) at Action Data Collection Sides (ADCSs) for large-scale testing. The duration of these can vary from weeks to months, and up to €3500 can be awarded.
• Facilitate the realization of the MRI large scale data collection at ADCSs. These are typically 1-6 months.
• Set up, pilot, and perform data quality check at MRI ADCSs or to initiate/maintain/develop collaborative projects to be run at ADCSs. The duration is expected to be a few days to weeks and typically have €500-1500 budget.
• Set up, pilot and perform statistical analysis and machine learning applications using the data collected at ADCSs. The duration of these can vary from weeks to months and up to €3500 can be awarded.

STSM awards may be combined with other funding sources, but these must be acknowledged in the application. In your application, you will have to describe the goal of the proposed STSM, how it contributes to the scientific objectives and deliverables of the NeuralArchCon COST Action and the specific WGs goals defined at the MoU, the planned expenses and the outputs planned as result of the STSM.

For detailed rules regarding eligibility and financial support, please see the relevant sections of the COST Vademecum (www.cost.eu/download/COSTVademecum)

When can you apply?

STSMs must be completed fully within one grant period, which typically start on May 1st. Applications will be accepted and filled on a rolling basis, and an STSM can start from May 10th each year, i.e. the 10th day of the grant period. The planned STSM must be concluded and the grant must be claimed no later than April 1st in any grant period, at the latest.This means that STSMs can be applied for at any time, but they cannot be completed between April 1st and May 10th. Special notice regarding 2021: In 2021, grant period 2 has been extended to end on Oct 31 instead of April 30. STSMs thus cannot be completed in the period Oct 1st to Nov 10th 2021.

How can you apply?

1. Applicants must complete, submit and download their STSM application online at: e-services.cost.eu/stsm. Although up to 2000 words are allowed in the form, we recommend keeping the application succinct below 1200 words. Be sure to include a brief section on if/how the application meets criteria for top priority.
2. Applicants must send their application form and the relevant supporting documents for evaluation, to Jordi Solé-Casals (jordi.sole@uvic.cat), NeuralArchCon STSM coordinator. The list of supporting documents to be submitted includes: • A letter of invitation from the Host Institution confirming that they can undertake the STSM on the given dates should their application be approved. • The submitted STSM application form. • A full C.V. (including a list of academic publications – if applicable).

When receiving a grant

• The Grant Holder sends the applicant a grant letter to sign and return. The STSM should not be started until this letter has been signed and returned.
• After the STSM, the investigator submits a brief scientific report to the STSM Host and STSM coordinator within 30 days of completing the STSM. This must include: the purpose of the mission; description of work carried out; description of main results; plan of future collaborations with Host (if applicable); planned publications resulting from STSM (if applicable). The report should be no longer than 1 page for missions of 1 month or longer. For shorter missions, a paragraph or two is acceptable.
• For dissemination purposes, selected successful applicants will be required to prepare a brief statement for the Action’s website.
• STSM Coordinator and Action Vice-Chair (or Chair, in case of any conflict of interest) approve the final report. The Grant Holder executes payment to the STSM Applicant.