MARGISTAR’s 3rd Call for Inclusiveness Target Countries Conference Grant Applications

MARGISTAR is launching its third call for Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC) Conference Grants for conferences occurring between January 15^th, 2025 until May 31^st, 2025. All applications must be made before the deadline on November 24^th, 2024, and all activities must occur before May 31^st, 2025.

Aim of MARGISTAR ITC Grants

ITC Conference Grants (ITC CGs) allow Young Researchers and Innovators affiliated with a legal entity in an Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) or Near Neighbour Country (NNC) (see list in section “Eligibility” below), to receive support for attending and presenting their work at an international well-recognised conference as well to contribute to increasing the visibility of the MARGISTAR COST Action. 

The objective of CA21125 MARGISTAR is to foster transformation strategies and innovation processes toward the revitalisation of mountainous and peripheral areas and the co-creation of alternative and effective pathways to sustainability. ITC CG applications should deal with topics relevant to the MARGISTAR Cost Action. These relate to the sustainability of mountainous areas (e.g., natural, environmental, social, and economic inter-relationships and interactions in mountainous areas, and environmental, social, economic, and political challenges of mountains), and with periphery traps, visions of post-marginalised futures, and transformation pathways in, of and for mountain areas. Research and practice from all disciplinary backgrounds are welcome, as well as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. 

Call Deadlines 

The deadline for applying to this call is 24h November 2024. This call is for conferences occurring between January 15^th and May 31^st 2025.

ITC Conference Grants contribute to travel, accommodation, subsistence expenses, registration fees, printing of scientific posters, and overall effort. Up to €1,500 are available per grant for face-to-face conferences and €500 for virtual conferences.

Please note that the evaluation process of submitted applications takes some time and the applicant cannot start their mobility period before having received the evaluation outcomes and Grant Letter. 

No later than 30 days after the conference, the grantee must submit travel documentation and a report. The grant payment is made after the report has been approved by the Grant Awarding Coordinator. The application, attendance at the conference, submission of the report, approval of the report, and payment of the grant must start and end during the same Grant Period (ends 30^th September 2025).

Eligibility and the Application Process

The ITCs are targeting Young Researchers and Innovators under the age of 40 affiliated with a legal entity based in a:

• Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC): 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, Türkiye, and Ukraine.
• Near Neighbour Country (NNC): Algeria, Azerbaijan, [Belarus], Egypt, the Faroe Islands, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, [Russia], Syria, and Tunisia. Please consult the COST Country and Organisation Table for a complete list of countries belonging to these categories.

The application must be submitted using the e-COST platform. 

The Applicant must log in to e-COST, click on the My Grant Applications tab, and on “Apply for a grant.” Then, the applicant must select ‘ITC Conference’ and complete all the sections of the application form. The application form requires the following details: title of the presentation; conference title; date and country; attendance type (face-to-face or virtual), and amount requested for the ITC Conference Grant. 

After filling the form, the applicant also needs to upload the following documents:

• The ITC Conference Grant application (using the  COST template, to be previously downloaded here).  In the section “Motivation and expected impact” of the template, the applicant must state if the person is applying for funding in other COST Actions, and that in case of acceptance in both COST Action calls, the person will withdraw one of the two applications, to avoid double funding.
• A copy of the abstract of the accepted oral or poster presentation.  
• An acceptance letter from the conference organisers.  
• 1-page CV in the Europass format. 
• A breakdown of the estimated costs of the conference

Please note that double funding for the participation to the same conference is prohibited and will lead to the cancellation of the Grant.

The Evaluation Process

After the deadline, applications will be assessed by the MARGISTAR Grant Awarding Coordinators and the MARGISTAR Core Group. 

The evaluation process will last 3 weeks approximately after the deadline.

The team will evaluate applications according to budget available and considering the following criteria:

1. Compliance of the conference topic with MARGISTAR: The proposed conference must align with topics related to the sustainability of mountainous areas (e.g., natural, environmental, social, and economic inter-relationships and interactions in mountainous areas, and environmental, social, economic, and political challenges of mountains), and in particular address periphery traps in mountain areas, visions of post-marginalised futures, or transformation pathways in, of and for mountain areas.
2. Contribution to the MARGISTAR COST Action objectives and deliverables: In particular, the assessment will consider the relevance of the proposed presentation for the MARGISTAR Action Objectives, the contribution to the scientific advancement of the proposal based on the abstract and application form submitted, and the publication and/or outcome potential of the research carried out. The exhaustiveness of the explanation provided of how it will support MARGISTAR in achieving its scientific objectives will be highly considered in the evaluation. Priority will be given to the members of the CA 21125 and with relevant research interests in the Action topic.
3. Contribution to the career development of the applicant: The applicant should explicitly address in the cover letter the motivation for participating in the conference in terms of the new knowledge, expected grantee’s visibility, and contribution to their career development. The establishment of new contacts for future collaborations and impact on the applicant’s career will be highly positively considered in the evaluation.  
4. Inclusiveness criteria: Priority will be given to early-career researchers and young researchers. Gender balance and geographic coverage will also be considered.
5. Applicants that have benefitted from previous MARGISTAR mobility grants or that are applying for other types of mobility (STSM, VM, DC) can apply, however priority will be given to applicants who have not been awarded any MARGISTAR grants before.
6. Coherence of the proposal: This considers the coherence between the requested budget with the duration and destination of the proposed mobility. It also considers the potential impact of the presentation: oral presentations are favoured over poster presentations; presentations developed within the frame of a collaborative project within two (or more) different COST Member Countries will be preferred.

Once the evaluation process is complete, all applicants will receive a formal notification through e-cost informing them about the outcomes of the selection and whether their request was approved or not.  

Selected applicants receive a Grant Letter stating the approved amount and the conditions for receiving the grant. In no case should the Applicant start their mobility before having received the Grant Letter.

Grant Holder Requirements

At the Conference

The ITC CGs must take place as foreseen in the submitted Application. The grant holder (i.e. grantee) must deliver the approved (oral or poster) presentation and follow any specific request of acknowledgment set by the Action Management Committee. In all cases, the grantee must acknowledge COST and MARGISTAR in presentation/posters properly and must use the official logos and visual identity.

In addition, the grantee is expected to actively network with other participants, and promote the COST Action to the potential stakeholders.

If the conference dates are modified by the organisers, the grantee should get in touch with the Grant Awarding Coordinator and provide an updated Acceptance Letter certifying the change of the conference dates. The Action Grant Manager is informed and provides the Applicant with an updated Grant Letter.

After the Conference

Within 30 days from the end of the conference, the grantee must submit travel documentation, the report, and supporting documentation via the e-COST system to claim the grant. The grant is only paid after proof of the participation to the conference is submitted. Late submission will lead to the cancellation of the Grant. 

The grantee will receive an e-notification to submit the report and other supporting documents to e-COST. The grantee must submit the following documents to e-COST and the Grant Awarding Coordinator:

• The complete report, using the COST template, which is available here.    
• A copy of the given presentation.
• The conference programme or book of abstracts/proceedings indicating the grantee’s presentation.
• A Certificate of Attendance to the conference.
• Receipt of the conference fee paid.

The grantee is also required to write a blog post to be published in the MARGISTAR Blog to disseminate his/her mobility experience to a wider audience. The grantee will receive instructions for this via e-mail.

Grant Payment

Payment is subject to the grant report being pre-approved on behalf of the Action’s MC by the delegated Grant Awarding Coordination team. The grant is payable up to 30 days after the grantee’s report and supporting documents have been approved by the Action Chair (or Vice-Chair). 

Please note that the COST Association and Action’s Grant holder can request additional information to substantiate the information contained within the documents submitted by grantees.

Contact

For additional information about this call, please contact Grant Awarding Committee co-coordinators: Dr. Anita Bušljeta Tonković ([email protected]) and Dr. Petros Tsioras ([email protected]).