Application guide for Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)

TRANSAUTOPHAGY supports Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs), i.e., exchange visits aimed at supporting individual mobility, strengthening existing networks and fostering collaboration between researchers. A STSM should specifically contribute to the scientific agenda of the COST Action, whilst at the same time allowing those partaking in the missions to learn new techniques, gain access to specific data, instruments and / or methods not available in their own institutions. The STSMs are intended especially for young researchers, i.e., PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. The duration of a standard STSM is between 5-60 days and the grant is 2000€ maximum. In addition, Early Career Investigators (ECI, i.e., a researcher with less than 8 years since obtaining the PhD/doctorate) can apply for a ECI STSM. The award usually covers economy travel and accommodation/subsistence, however the financial support is a contribution to the costs of a STSM and may not necessarily cover all the costs. Note, the STSM does not support research costs. The application has to be submitted by the applicant. STSM calls occur continuously but the committee will evaluate 3-times per year. Detailed STSM information can be found here.

Eligibility and assessment criteria

• Applicants must be engaged in an official research programme as a PhD Student or can be employed by, or affiliated to, an Institution or legal entity, which has within its remit a clear association with performing research.
• Young researchers with priority for PhD students, postdocs and ECIs
• The applicant’s PI should be a TRANSAUTOPHAGY member and the STSMs should be between two different TRANSAUTOPHAGY member countries or between a TRANSAUTOPHAGY member country and an International partner country (IPC) or a Near Neighbor Country (NNC). However, priority will be given when the two labs are TRANSAUTOPHAGY members.
• The STSM should contribute to the scientific objectives of TRANSAUTOPHAGY
• STSM should provide added value to TRANSAUTOPHAGY.
• Translational projects will have higher priority
• Gender and nationality balance
• Quality of the applicant based on the written application
• Candidate ranking will be done by summing up the scores of the whole research proposal and its individual parts (see below) on a 0-3 scale (3 = outstanding, 2 = excellent, 1 = average, 0 = insufficient)
• Selection will be done by the STSM committee in conjunction with WG leaders and finally approved by the MC.

Registration

Use the COST online registration tool at https https://e-services.cost.eu/user/login/STSM to register your request for a STSM. Select Action CA15138 from the dropdown list. The following information should be included in the registration form:

• Your contact information
• The host’s contact information
• The planned dates and length of stay
• The title of the planned STSM
• A short description of the proposed work plan (about 250 words)
• A short curriculum vitae
• A budget breakdown for the costs of the STSM (max. allowance 160€/day)
• Applicant’s bank details

Submit the online STSM registration by pressing the “submit” button. The COST online registration tool will now generate the formal STSM application, which you should download.

Application procedure

Compile the STSM application package consisting of:

• Downloaded formal STMS application
• Host agreement letter
• Letter of support from your PI
• Concise research proposal of the STSM (max. 2 pages) including: background and rationale of the STSM, aims of the STSM, proposed experiments of the STSM, motivation for the visit to the host laboratory and a description of the predicted added value it will bring to TRANSAUTOPHAGY (download the template here)
• CV (max. 1 page) including any recent publications

E-mail your STSM application package as one pdf file entitled with your surname to the TRANSAUTOPHAGY STSM coordinators (pboya@cib.csic.es or behrends@em.uni-frankfurt.de) and Cc:ed to your host. Please, write TRANSAUTOPHAGY STSM in the subject line of your e-mail. The STSM coordinator will distribute the STSM applications to the TRANSAUTOPHAGY STSM Committee, who will assess and approve/reject the application. The coordinator will inform you about the decision as well as inform the MC Chair and Grant Holder Institution. The STSM grant is a fixed contribution based on the budget requested and the evaluation of the application by the STSM Committee and is paid after completion of the STSM.

Our e-COST financial administrator () at the Grant Holder Institution will email your STSM Grant letter, which you should sign and return by e-mail before the start of your STSM.

Reporting

Within four weeks after completion of your STSM, you should send a short report to the STSM coordinator (pboya@cib.csic.es or behrends@em.uni-frankfurt.de) and Cc:ed to your host. The report should concisely (~2 pages) describe:

• Details of the STSM (your name, name of your university, country, name of your host, host university, host country, your STSM number and title, duration of your visit)
• Purpose of the visit
• Work carried out during the visit
• Main results obtained
• Intention to continue the collaboration with the host institution
• Projected joint publication with the host lab, as a result of the STSM
• A short abstract with title, participating labs and a single short paragraph including a suitable graphical image of outcomes for inclusion on our Action website; Further a brief (100-200 words maximum) dissemination text aimed at non-experts should also be written.

Your host should confirm that she/he has approved your report by e-mail to the STSM coordinator. After approval of your report by the STSM coordinator, the TRANSAUTOPHAGY financial administrator will handle your payment.

Dissemination

Please remember to acknowledge the STSM grant support by COST Action CA15138/ TRANSAUTOPHAGY in your future joint publication. Please use the following sentence: This article is based upon work from COST Action (TRANSAUTOPHAGY CA15138), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).