A total of 3 YRI grants will be available in this second grant Call. Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grants (YRI) are aimed at supporting young researchers and innovators under the age of 40 to attend an international conference and present their work fully organized by a third party, i.e. not organized nor co-organized by the COST Action.

Important dates

This YRI Conference Grant open call is open from 06.02.2025 until 28.02.2025. The conference must take place before 30.09.2025.

Conference dates: 01.03.2025 – 30.09.2025
Call closes: 28.02.2025

Eligibility

Young Researchers and Innovators below the age of 40.

The applicant shall deliver an oral presentation or present a poster at a chosen conference and be listed in the official event/conference program. Only presentations of their own work are acceptable. The work presented shall be relevant to the scientific objectives of the Action and shall acknowledge COST.

Grant Amount / Expenses covered by the grant

The grant can provide a contribution for travel, accommodation, subsistence expenses, registration fees and other relevant costs such as printing of a scientific poster. It is set at:

• up to EUR 1500 per grant for face-to-face conferences
  or
• up to EUR 500 for virtual conferences.

Please note:

• In their application applicants must provide an argued estimation of the costs to be covered.
• The grant does not necessarily cover all the expenses.
• The Grant Awarding Committee can decide to approve the grant with a lower amount than initially requested by the applicant.

Application process

An application must be submitted online via the e-COST system at least 30 days before the start of the conference by creating a Conference Grant Request. In order to make an application, you need an e-COST profile. It is necessary to fill out the online form (title of presentation, conference title, date and country, requested budget and attendance type) as well as upload the following supporting documentation:

• YRI conference grant application (see template here)
• Copy of the abstract of the accepted oral or poster presentation.
• Acceptance letter (or invitation) from the conference organizers
• CV, including recent publications or conference presentations
• An argued estimation of the costs to be covered

See the step-by-step process in the Grant Awarding User guide.

Acceptance/Rejection of application: You will be notified within three weeks after submission of a complete application.

Receiving the grant

After the successful participation in the conference the following documents must be submitted in e-COST within 30 days after the end date of the activity or 15 days after the end of the Grant Period (31.10.2025), whichever date comes first:

• A scientific report on the outcome of the presentation of the accepted contribution, in terms of grantee’s visibility, including the establishment of new contacts for future collaborations (see template here)
• Certificate of attendance
• Programme of the conference or book of abstracts / proceedings indicating the presentation (oral or poster) of the grantee
• Copy of the given presentation (oral or poster)
• YRI grantees are expected to share the outcome of their conference contributions with the BEST-CSP Action community. The grantee is therefore required to send in a written blogpost (preferably with a photograph taken at the conference) or a short video talking about the experience, which will be then uploaded on the BEST-CSP Action website. *** Please upload the blog post together with the grant report in e-COST (separate files) ***

Once all the necessary documentation is submitted on time and the report is approved by the Grant Awarding Coordinator you will receive the grant.

Important Notice

Please be advised that due to the closure of the UPC (Grant Holder) for holidays in the month of August, there will be delays in processing grant decisions and payments.

Further information

For more information, please consult the Annotated Rules for COST Actions and the Grant Awarding User guide or contact the Grant Awarding Coordinator Michela Romanini (michela.romanini@upc.edu). In case of non-fulfilment of the grant, COST Derogation Procedures will be followed.

*: Please consult the specific COST measures taken regarding the participation of researchers/innovators from these countries (Russia, Belarus and Hungary) in the Annex I – Level A: Country and Organisations Table.