1. www.cost.esf.org 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 ESSEM COST Office News and Managing Your Action up to May 2009 and beyond By Kent Hung On behalf of Carine Petit ESSEM Science Officer Vigo, April 2009

2. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM Outline News from the COST Office News from ESSEM Status of the Action Useful to know and reminders To be done at this MC meeting

3. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM COST Governance and Open Calls New “Domain”: Trans-Disciplinary Domain Open Call of September 26, 2008 –ESSEM EEP meeting: 23-24 February 2009 –DC hearing session: 5 March 2009, 3 full proposals –Final list of 30 proposals to be proposed to the 174th CSO, among which the 3 ESSEM proposals, on 26-27 May 2009 173 nd CSO on 19-20 March 2009 in Berlin: –Legal status of COST under FP8 Open Call of March 27, 2009: 493 pre-proposals, 59 ESSEM Next Collecting Date: September 25, 2009

4. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM New instrument and new rules Early Stage Researchers (i.e. PhD + <10 years) –Open Call participation and WG leading –Increased duration of STSMs beyond 3 months –3 ESSEM Conference Grants per year of 3000 € for attending International Conference (abstract for an oral presentation must be accepted) Last Collecting Dates: February 28, 2009 and March 31, 2009 Next collecting date to be decided at DC meeting in June 2009 Actions are encouraged –To meet in COST premises, Brussels –New flat rate: 120 € per night per participant –To conform to their timetable. Prolongation/Extension will be consider only without additional budget and on basis of strong scientific justification

5. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM News from ESSEM Collection of the Annual Progress Report from 27 April until 22 May 2009: –The Chair will have to fill in the scientific part of the report (quite short); the admin part is provided by the COST Office Next ESSEM Annual Progress Conference: 24-25 June 2009, Istanbul –All the Action-Chairs will be invited to make a presentation to be followed by a general discussion and the evaluation by the respective Rapporteur –The ESSEM Chair, Vice-Chair and SO will meet the Action- Chairs for an informal meeting and open discussion

6. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM News from ESSEM Open Call of March 2008 led to 3 new ESSEM Actions to be launched in spring (total portfolio: 28 running Actions): –ES0805: The Terrestrial Biosphere in the Earth System –ES0806: Stable Isotopes in Biosphere-Atmosphere-Earth System Research (SIBAE) –TD0803: Detecting evolutionary hot spots of antibiotic resistances in Europe (DARE)

7. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM COST Action ES0801: The ocean chemistry of bioactive trace elements and paleoclimate proxies CSO Approval 18 June 2008 Free application (new Parties)17 June 2009 End Date 13 November 2012 Signatories to MoU 11 COST Parties Intention to signPortugal Non-COST applicationsAustralia (Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC) - Accepted by MC and ESSEM DC - To be approved by JAF on 28-29 April 2009 RapporteurDr. Zorica SVIRCEV Grant Holder InstitutionUniversity of Oxford WebmasterProf. Gideon Henderson

8. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM COST ES0801: 14 Nov. 2008 – 31 May 2009 Budget 14 Nov. 2008 – 31 May 2009: 35 000 € KO meeting (Brussels, 14/11/08) 3 875 € (paid) WG meeting (Oxford, 24/03/09) 4 800 € (tbr) 920 € (tbr) MC+WGs (Vigo, 15/04/09) 16 000 € (approved) 3 000 € (approved) STSM (J. Bown) 2 100 € (tbr) GASG 2 000 € (tbr) Total expenses 32 695 € What is the status of the brochure which was planned for 2000 € ?

9. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM COST ES0801: 1st June 2009 – 31 May 2010 Indicative min. budget for 12 COST countries: 68 000 € Period: 1st June 2009 – 31 May 2010 No systematic carry over from 2008-2009 budget to 2009- 2010 budget Pool of money left by ALL Actions from 2008-2009 budget will be redistributed between ALL Actions for 2009-2010 proportionally to the number of COST countries  Try to prepare a budget plan which fits well your work plan, with well justified activities. Do not hesitate to exceed by 15-20 % the announced budget.

10. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM COST Grant System May 2009: Internal tests performed by IT, 2 AOs, 1 SO and 2 volunteer Action Chairs June 2009: Revisions based on initial testing Release for use July 2009??? Transition to grant system of 1 Action per month per domain Migration of ES0801: to be discussed with Gideon as soon as we have a ‘t0’ date to start the migration of the Domain The Actions must nominate 2 internal MC auditors who will assist the Grant Holder to check the validity of the expenses Grant agreement in the vademecum, chapter 6: http://www.cost.esf.org/participate/guidelines http://www.cost.esf.org/participate/guidelines

11. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM Meetings can be held ONLY in a COST country member of the Action New template for application of non-COST Countries A better description of mutual benefits is requested and of the contribution of the non-COST Institution in the Working Groups A motivation letter must be submitted by the non-COST Institution to the Chair and the Science Officer The application must be approved successively by: Management Committee ESSEM Domain Committee JAF Group and CSO Useful to know about non-COST Countries

12. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM Early Stage Researcher: less than PhD + 10 years including researchers still working on their PhD or Master Degree Next collecting date for ESR Conference Grant: to be decided in June at the next DC Committee and will be communicated to Gideon All requests for organizing meetings must be submitted in advance: 3 weeks for small expert meetings, 4 weeks for MC+WG, 2 months for meeting support requests, 4 weeks for STSMs Every meeting must be documented afterwards by minutes to be provided to COST within one month after the meeting Standard pre- and post-approval to be used for the meeting support requests and the STSMs Important reminders

13. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM At this MC meeting and beyond Prepare your work plan for 2009-2010 and the associated budget plan. They will the basis for preparing the Grant Agreement MC Decisions about: –Brochure ? –Nomination of 2 MC Auditors –Clear vote of the work plan and budget plan Continuous update of the website: lists of WG members must be available on the Action website

14. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM At this MC meeting Sign the Attendance List (each day!) Complete and sign your Travel Reimbursement Form and submit it, together with receipts, to the local organizer or to the Chair Send additional receipts by scan/email or fax until 24 April 2009 Save energy and money by using public transportation instead of taxis (prepare carefully your travels)! Max 40 € per participant and per meeting will be reimburse for taxi. Thanks for the planet! International Year of Planet Earth (2007-2009) http://yearofplanetearth.org/index.html Have a fruitful meeting!

15. COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract ESSEM Stephanie Beauloye, Kent Hung Administrative Officers - ESSEM sbeauloye@cost.esf.orgsbeauloye@cost.esf.org, khung@cost.esf.orgkhung@cost.esf.org Dr. Lucia Forzi Junior Science Officer – Natural Sciences lforzi@cost.esf.org Tel: 32-2-533-3858 Dr. Carine Petit Senior Science Officer – Natural Sciences Science Officer - ESSEM cpetit@cost.esf.org Tel: 32-2-533-3831 ESSEM team