Short Term Scientific Missions

Through the Short Term Scientific Missions Euro-FBP will support researchers who wish to visit other partner institutions in our COST Action network (call to be issued soon).

Who is eligible?

How to apply for a STSM

Financial support

Final report of the STSM

Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM) are aimed at supporting individual mobility and at strengthening the existing networks and fostering collaborations by allowing scientists to visit an institution in another participating COST country or an approved NNC or IPC institution.
STSMs in Euro-FBP should specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of the COST Action, whilst at the same time allowing those participating in the missions to learn new techniques, gain access to specific data, instruments and / or methods not available in their own institutions / organisations, in particular of relevance for developing and performing research on foodborne parasites. Please note that STSMs that are associated less clearly associated with foodborne parasites and the objectives of Euro-FBP will not be prioritized.  Early-stage researchers (ESRs) are encouraged to participate in the Action activities and their applications will be prioritised. Gender-balance will also be considered. An applicant can be considered as being an ESR when the time that has elapsed between the award date of his/her PhD does not exceed 8 years.
Applicants coming from Inclusiveness Target Countries will be also given priority.
STSMs in general aim to be a focus for researchers wishing to contribute to the tasks of Working Groups (WGs). For more information on the work of WGs, please contact WG Leaders. They may also be able to help you identify a host institution:

WG1 (ranking and surveillance): Joke van der Giessen, RIVM, Netherlands, joke.van.der.giessen@rivm.nl
WG2 (analytical and diagnostic methods):  Christian Klotz, Robert Koch Institute, Germany, KlotzC@rki.de 
WG3: (interventions): Neil Rowan, Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland, nrowan@AIT.IE
WG4: (trends, risk, research agenda) Paul Torgerson, University of Zürich, Switzerland, paul.torgerson@access.uzh.ch
For more general information on STSMs, please contact STSM coordinators (Ricardo Santos (ricardosantos@ist.utl.pt) and Smaro Sotiraki (smaro_sotiraki@yahoo.gr).
The deadlines for applications are November 30th, January 30th and February 29th, but applications can be submitted before.  The applications will be assessed the STSM Committee members.
 STSMs need to take place according to the following rules: - be a minimum duration of 5 days; - be a maximum duration of 90 days; - needs to be carried out in their entirety within a single 2-year grant period and within the Action's lifetime.
However, exceptions can be made for ESRs wishing to stay for 91-180 days. For more details regarding the regulations related to STSM, please refer to the COST Vademecum (http://www.cost.eu/participate) .

The STSM-committee will evaluate the applications and select grantees based on the following criteria:

• Scientists (who have not previously received a grant for a STSM) involved in the COST Action.
• Geographical and gender balance issues are to be taken into consideration and applications from ESRs should be privileged.
• Priority is given to applicants from inclusiveness countries, but others will be considered as well. The country of origin and the host country must be members of the Euro-FBP consortium.

Interested Researchers can apply by following the directions provided below.

1. All applicants must carefully read the funding rules detailed in Section 7 of the COST H2020 Vademecum. This document is available at: http://www.cost.eu/participate/guidelines
   
2. All applicants must register for an e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu/ - adding their bank account details to their profile.
   
3. All applicants must obtain a letter of invitation from the Host institution confirming that they can undertake the STSM on the given dates prior to submitting an application.
   
4. All applicants must complete, submit and download their STSM application online at: https://e-services.cost.eu/stsm
   
5. All applicants must send their submitted STSM application form and the relevant supporting documents to the STSM Coordinators for evaluation before the application submission deadline expires.
   

The list of supporting documents to be submitted for the evaluation are:

• The submitted STSM application form including the budget (downloadable when the online application is submitted - see point 4 above);
• A 1-2 A4 page motivation letter including an overview of the proposed activities that will be performed which must contain a plan of work for the visit highlighting the proposed contribution to the scientific objectives of Euro-FBP COST Action;
• C.V. including scientific degrees obtained (with dates), current position, previous work experience/positions, post-graduate courses and a list of academic publications – if applicable.
• Letter of invitation to the applicant from a senior Researcher affiliated to the Host institution (senior Researchers can be Associate Professor, Professor, Head of Department or equivalent);
  
• A letter of support from the Home Institution including any coverage of expenses not covered by the Grant during the planned STSM;
  

The application will then be assessed by the formally delegated person(s) in the STSM committee against the perceived contribution that the proposed visit will make against the scientific objectives outlined in the Action’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). 

The applicant will be formally notified of the outcome of their STSM application by the STSM Coordinators no more than 4 weeks after the application was received. 

Financial support is limited to cover travel, accommodation and meal expenses and is paid in the form of a grant.

Specific Euro-FBP rules concerning financial support for STSMs

• The management committee (MC) has agreed to target at least 4 STSMs per year
• Financial support is limited to cover travel, accommodation and meal expenses and is paid in the form of a grant.
• The reimbursement rate per day to cover meals and accommodation is a flat rate up to 160€ (Important! see table below for flat rate per country). Up to EUR 500 may be attributed for the travel expenses; expected travel expenses must be specified in the budget and be reasonable. 
• A maximum EUR 2,500 in total can be afforded to the grantee for the full STSM including travel expenses for 90 days STSMs. 
•  In case of extended stays for ESRs a maximum of EUR 3,500 can be afforded to the grantee for the full STSM.

Daily flat rate per Country

After the STSM is finished, the grantee is required to submit a short scientific report to the host institution and to the STSM Coordinator no later than 30 days after the end date of the STSM for approval.
The report should not be less than 5 pages and include the following:

1. aims and objectives of the STSM
2. description of work undertaken
3. main results
4. future collaboration possibilities with the host institution
5. future plans, including potential future publications
6. Outputs produced (e.g. academic paper, funding application, new dataset etc.)

In addition the grantee should provide the following:

• Letter from the host institution which confirms that the applicant has successfully completed your stay.
• Short blog type report for the EURO-FBP website. The report can be creative: (just a written report; or with photos of the work; or a short video, etc.).

Failure to submit the scientific report within 30 days will effectively cancel the grant. The STSM Coordinators Team is responsible for approving the scientific report and informing the Grant Holder that the STSM has been successfully accomplished. After receipt of the approval by email, the Grant Holder will execute the payment of the grant.
Please note that the reimbursement of STSM grantees will be done after the mission is over and the final report is submitted by the STSM participant. Exceptions to this rule cannot be granted.

The final report will be uploaded to the Euro-FBP webpage.
For more details on STSM rules (eg. onfinancial support),  please refer to the COST vademecum.