WG4 and grant committee meeting

→ Europe/Zurich
Arnaud Ferrari (Uppsala University (SE)), Pietro Govoni (Universita & INFN, Milano-Bicocca (IT))
COMETA Core Group
Zoom Meeting ID
62688302670
Host
Karolos Potamianos
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First meeting of WG4 and the grant committee - 04/10/2023

* STSM grants:

  • target travel across borders -- even outside Europe
  • grants have to be within 4k EUR but other rules can mostly be set by us.
  • we want to spend all the money within a grant period (GP).
  • we need to keep the scientific relevance and inclusiveness (geography, gender, juniority) in mind when allocating grants.

* Allocation of STSM grants:

  • two options, either first come first serve, or open calls during a few weeks for a given period and with a given budget?
  • if so, should a call be open for the upcoming X months or for a whole GP?
  • the favoured option is four calls per GP covering both the upcoming few months and later periods, more details below.

* Templates:

* Decisions:

Calls for ITC conferences and STSMs at the same time, but different application forms. No dissemination grants for the first call.

Calls every 3 months
================

 call closing    |   travel window
------------------------------------------
 15/11/23        |  01/12/23 -- 15/10/24
 10/01/24        |  01/02/24 -- 15/10/24
 10/04/24        |  01/05/24 -- 15/10/24
 10/07/24        |  01/08/24 -- 31/01/25

  • budget for each trimester = TOT / 4, that may be modified by the grant committee if needed.
  • for each trimester, at most half of the budget is reserved to not "last minute" applications, where "last minute" applications are those which are requested for the closest travel window.
  • travel ban in the last two weeks of October (just before the end of a GP).
  • calls to be sent by the Grant Committee Chair to COMETA_ALL at least three weeks ahead of a call closing date.

Submission procedure
=================

  • Online grant applications: https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants/add
  • Application form + additional uploaded documents (for both STSM and ITC).
  • Letter of invitation:
    • STSM: from the host (physical person, not institute),
    • ITC: from the conference organisers, or copy of accepted abstract.
  • CV including publications (for both STSM and ITC).
  • Support letter from supervisors for PhD and master students (for both STSM and ITC).

Evaluation
========

  • Evaluation criteria:
    • scientific relevance,
    • geographical inclusiveness (note that the ITC classification is according to the home institute of the candidate),
    • gender balance,
    • younger people (< 40 y.o.),
    • the grant committee may contact WG leaders in case of need for decision.
  • Evaluation procedure:
    • the grant committee chair first prepares and distributes a summary of the applications,
    • in case of a conflict of interest, the implied member of the committee does not participate in the evaluation of that single application,
    • closed evaluation committee meeting (open to participation, but not voting, for the chair and vice chair).
  • Evaluation response:
    • minutes of the decisions,
    • we think that the grant committee has the right to reduce the STSM requests: does the COST system and rules allow for it?
      • if it's not possible, the committee does not approve the application and asks for a new submission with a new amount within days of the first decision,
      • if the submitter does not accept, the STSM is rejected.

 

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