European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract European COoperation in Science and Technology COST in FP7 Dr. Martin Grabert COST Office, Brussels

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 2 Strengthen Europe in scientific and technical research for peaceful purposes through the support of cooperation and interaction between European researchers The COST programme is a long-running, economical and highly successful way to spread awareness and build networks between Europe’s researchers. It reflects the human dimension of science, helping researchers to share not only the results of their work but also their aims and methods. The COST mission

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 3 COST characteristics Co-ordination through cooperation in networks Pan-European Multi-disciplinary “Non-competitive” (pre-normative; public utility) National financing of researchers and projects – national responsibility “Bottom-up” – no fixed programme Flexible participation – join in if you are interested “Interdisciplinary Exploratoria” Enabling agent – focus on younger researchers Open to global cooperation

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 4   The 27 EU Member States   EFTA Member States  Iceland  Norway  Switzerland   Acceding & Candidate Countries  Croatia  FYR of Macedonia (FYROM)*  Turkey   Other Countries  Republic of Serbia*   COST Co-operating States  Israel * not associated with FP COST Countries

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 5 COST supporting EU’s Neighbourhood Policy COST Countries Neighbourhood Countries ● ●Special budget line in COST to facilitate collaborations ● ●Specific exchange activities (Short Term Scientific Missions, cooperation of young researchers)

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 6 COST Actions: global participation (October 2007) 181 non-COST country participations in 65 Actions Australia - 21 Argentina - 1 China - 8 Japan - 11 Canada - 26 New Zealand - 4 South Africa - 2 Tunisia - 2 Bosnia & Herzegovina - 2 Ethiopia - 1 Ukraine - 19 Russia - 44 USA - 23 Rep of Korea - 2 China (Taiwan) - 1 Hong Kong - 1 Brazil - 1 Algeria - 2 India - 1 Egypt - 1 Cuba - 1 Malaysia - 1 Moldova - 2 Vietnam - 1 Colombia - 1 Armenia - 1 Georgia - 1

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 7 COST Governance

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 8 9 COST Domain Committees COST Actions (~200) MC = Management Committee COST OFFICE COMMITTEE OF SENIOR OFFICIALS (CSO) COST National Coordinators F&A …… ….. …….. WORKING GROUPS (NETWORKS) …… ~ researchers Scientific Domain ……. Council COST Secretariat Action WGs MC What is a COST Action?

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 9 Assessment of proposals in the Open Call –Reviewing and rating of Preliminary Proposals –Hearings and Ranking of Full Proposals –Participation in establishing final selection Monitoring of Actions in progress –“Progress Report” submitted every year by Actions –Presentation by the Action Chair at Annual Review Meeting (ARM) and advising the COST Office on budget Evaluation of completed Actions –Peer review by the Evaluation Panel –Approval of the “Evaluation Report” The role of the Domain Committees (DCs)

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 10 Supervises and coordinates the implementation of the Action Providing decisions as “legal basis” for expenditures Composed of: –Maximum 2 representatives of each signatory Country  ensuring the scientific coordination at national level –One representative of any non-COST institution admitted to participate –Representatives of the COST Office Each signatory has one vote The role of the Management Committees (MCs)

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 11 Managing the Action‘s budget Submitting the annual “work and budget plan” –Submitted by the Chair on behalf of MC –Preliminary Financial Report to be submitted –Final Financial Report to be submitted at a later stage Progress Report within a given deadline Contributions to the Annual Review Meeting to be organised The tasks of the Management Committees (MCs)

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 12 CSO approves draft MOU Two Stage Process (6 months) Dissemination (x years) time 5 countries sign MOU Open Call Collection Date Implementation (4 years) Monitoring DC adopts draft MoU DC assesses proposals Assessment Evaluation 1st MC Meeting COST Action Life Cycle

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 13 Science management meetings Scientific workshops and seminars Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) Training Schools and Research Conferences Dissemination Average funding about € per year per Action COST Actions COST Actions: Nationally funded projects (min. 5 participating countries) with a joint work programme receive finance for: Strategic Workshops: Strategic Workshops: to explore future scientific or societal needs What is funded by COST?

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 14 Examples for COST Actions Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Evolution: COST Action D27 Prebiotic chemistry is the chemistry that describes the chemical processes associated with this transition to life from the inanimate matter. It is a classic field within the chemical world. Initiated in the early 1920s with the seminal book by Alexander Ivanovich Oparin, it was not until the famous experiments by Stanley Miller in 1953, showing that simple electrical discharges in a prebiotic-like gaseous mixture could produce amino acids and other important biomolecules, that it became an independent area of research.. Since then, prebiotic chemistry has expanded greatly, and thanks to many researchers, alleged prebiotic conditions have been described under which several biomolecules can be fabricated. The main objective of the Action is to develop the chemistry connected with the origin of life and early evolution of life on Earth, with special emphasis on self-replicating systems, prebiotic synthesis of nucleic acids and polypeptides, as well as simple protocells as early models of biological cells.

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 15 Examples for COST Actions Targeted Radionuclide Therapy - TRNT: COST Action BM0607 The main objective of the Action is to improve the potential of cancer therapy through the development and application of innovative vectors labeled with therapeutic radionuclides for ‘targeted radionuclide therapy’ of disseminated cancer Cancer Cell Advantage of TRNT over chemotherapy? We can easily - quickly see what we are doing Crossfire effect Radioimmunotherapy of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma 6th leading cause of cancer death in the United States

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 16 Examples for COST Actions How new telecommunications can benefit people with disabilities: COST Action 219 ter A major societal issue as we move towards a fully mobile and fully linked society is maintaining accessibility for all. Future generations of mobile communications systems will transmit data, text, voice, pictures and video between fixed or moving terminals. Customers will access variable bandwidth instantly and will be charged accordingly and automatically. Mobile systems will provide Internet access as well as point-to-point communication, and they will be linked with wireless broadcast services. COST 219ter Is promoting a communications infrastructure that is accessible to all – including the elderly and the disabled Takes part in adapting and designing the equipment accordingly Stimulates and carries out research and development to improve accessibility to services for disabled and older people in smart houses.

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 17 Examples for COST Actions Sunshine makes water safer to drink: COST Action P9 One in five people on earth have no safe drinking water and are at serious risk from water-borne diseases. Solar Disinfection (SODIS) is a technique for making microbially contaminated drinking water safe. Transparent bottles are filled with contaminated water and placed indirect sunlight for 6 hours. The combined action of solar UVA ionising radiation and the induced heating effect reduces microbial contamination levels from 1 million bacteria per ml to zero in < 1.5 hours and is completely effective against the pathogens responsible for cholera, salmonella, gastroenteritis, and other diseases. COST contributes to meet the EU's commitments under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the EU Water Initiative (EUWI), the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 18 Examples for COST Actions Algorithmic Decision Theory: COST Action IC0602: The main objective of the Action is twofold: - propose new algorithmic solutions for hard decision theoretic problems arising from the use of large amounts of information, the presence of uncertainty as well as of complex structures of data; - use results and concepts from decision theory in order to improve and advance in computer science and artificial intelligence.

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 19 “Open Call” = any topic can be proposed at any time – –Encourages interdisciplinary proposals – –Improves transparency – –Ensures quality – –Furthers competitiveness Emphasis on Early Stage Researchers: their joint efforts bring improved recognition Selection criteria are public Specific collection dates (i.e. 30 September 2007) 2-stage process / peer reviewed Successful COST Actions proposals can expect to start activities within 8 months after the collection date The “Open Call”

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 20 COST Open Call for proposals COST invites researchers throughout Europe to submit proposals for research networks and use this unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and to embark on new European perspectives. This continuous call is thematically open. Proposals from all Scientific Domains are welcome. The next collection date for preliminary proposals is expected to be 30 March 2008 subject to a CSO decision in November 2007.

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 21 The decision of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the 7th RTD Framework Programme ( ) foresees “financial support for the administration and coordination activities of COST". Annex II of the Specific Programme 'Cooperation', in the budget of the Specific Programme, stipulates the financial support for COST: “Of which at least EUR 210 million and up to EUR 250 million for COST, subject to the mid ‑ term evaluation. This financial support will be provided through a grant which will be paid on the basis of a grant agreement between the Commission and a legal entity designated by COST as its implementing agent and communicated to the Commission by the General Secretariat of the Council and identified in the Work Programme.” The Work Programme for the specific programme 'Cooperation' states the following in relation to COST: “The Community's funding to COST under FP7 is specified in the Cooperation Specific Programme, of which a first instalment of EUR 30 million is foreseen in This financial support will be provided through a grant which will be paid on the basis of a grant agreement between the Commission and the European Science Foundation, the legal entity designated by COST as its implementing agent and communicated to the Commission by the General Secretariat of the Council”. COST in FP7: Legal Base

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 22 “Deepen” Actions: Increased flexibility and budget Early Stage Researchers (i.e. PhD + <10 years) – –Open Call participation – –Increased duration of Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) – –More Training schools – –Increased involvement in existing COST Activities: Outreach and profiling Global dimension (e.g. pilot schemes with Australia and New Zealand) Joint activities – –High Level Research Conference (COST-ESF) – –Frontiers of Science Workshops (COST-ESF) – –Strategic Workshops and Science Initiatives – –Outreach Activities (e.g. ESOF2008) COST in FP7: Highlights

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 23 COST Budget in FP7

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ISERD Conference | | 24 Thank you for your attention