CALL FOR STSM APPLICATIONS IN THE CA19145 EUROPEAN
NETWORK FOR ASSURING FOOD INTEGRITY USING NON-DESTRUCTIVE SPECTRAL SENSORS (SENSORFINT)

GENERAL GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS ON SHORT TERMS SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS

Introduction

Short-term scientific missions (STSM) are institutional visits that allow researchers (belonging to COST countries or Near Neighbour Countries (NNC)) to spend a limited period of time at an institute or laboratory within another COST country, International Partner Country (IPC) / institution or International Organisation to foster collaboration and to perform empirical research. Participation of Young Researchers and Innovators (YRI) in STSMs is particularly encouraged. The aim of STSM is to provide researchers with access to new research/new techniques relevant to SENSORFINT that may not be available in their own institution. By this means STSM can accelerate the development of SENSORFINT research, knowledge exchange and collaboration across COST countries and beyond, as well as being an important component in the individual’s personal development.

Important dates

Call launched: April 17th 2024
Application deadline: April 28th 2024

Decision by the evaluation committee: May 2nd 2024

The timeframe for realisation of STSM: between May 15th 2024 and August 31th 2024.
This call is open to all participants, but priority will be given to Young Researchers and Innovators (researchers and innovators age below 40). A balance between Working Groups, gender and geographical range will also be considered.

Scientific Topics

Unless specifically identified, any STSM application of candidates to SENSORFINT must contribute to one or more of the following themes related to the scope of the Working Groups of the Action:

• WG1: The application of Non Destructive Spectral Sensors (NDSS) to process control and labelling within the food industry.

• WG2: Research looking at integrating several NDSS signals for food integrity applications.

• WG3: Developing novel algorithms and methods for processing NDSS in real time.

• WG4: The use of information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in building decision support systems for the industrial implementation of NDSS.

• WG5: Dissemination and exploitation.

Each successful STSM grantee will have identified an output report, agreed by the STM committee that will need to be completed in full and to the required standard before receiving full reimbursement of expenses. Each STSM grant needs to be completed in its entirety within the single grant period.

Number of Grants and Financial Support

A total of 8 STSM are offered in this call. The STSM grant is used to cover costs of travel and subsistence. The financial support should be viewed as a contribution to the costs of the mission and may not cover all costs. This comprises:

Each individual STSM is a contribution up to a maximum of EUR 2000 for each applicant.

The budget requested must be justified in the application.

Eligibility and more info ( See https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2023/11/COST-094-21-Annotated-Rules-for-COST-Actions-Level-C-V1.4-Final-.pdf for full details )
Short-Term Scientific Mission consists in a visit of a host organization located in a different country than the country of affiliation (for Affiliation, see Article 4)1.1.a.1) by a Researcher or Innovator for the specific work to be carried out and for a determined period of time.

How to apply

The applicant should complete:

• A fully completed COST STSM application form (see the template).

• A motivation letter.

• A work plan.

• Applicant CV (reduced version 4 pages maximum).

• An agreement with the host institution.

• A letter of support from the home institution.

• Financial data (amount for travel and subsistence). Please calculate the subsistence amount depending on the host country.

This information must be submitted through e-cost platform and to the following persons
by email:
The Chair of the COST Action (Prof. Lola Pérez Marín, dcperez@uco.es)
The Vice Chair (Prof. Tom Fearn, t.fearn@ucl.ac.uk)
The Grant Awarding Coordinator (Dr. Jose ́Antonio Entrenas León, p82enlej@uco.es)

Evaluation criteria 

Evaluation and selection of participants

Applications shall be reviewed by the SENSORFINT Core Group. The STSM coordinator will manage the process and may propose a subgroup for accelerating the evaluation.

After the STSM

The grantee is required to submit a scientific report to the host institution, Action Chair, Vice-Chair, and STSM Coordinator for approval within 30 days after the end date of the STSM. The report should contain:

• A scientific report, including the dissemination works and publications generated or in progress. 
• An official letter/confirmation by the host institution of the successful execution of the STSM. 

The Action Chair and Grant Awarding Coordinator are responsible for approving the scientific report. The failure to submit the scientific report within 30 days will effectively cancel the grant. Once approved, bank-to-bank transfer will make payment of the STSM grant to the grantee.