ITC conference grant call 2022

Dear Underground4value partners,

We would like to announce a new ITC¹ (Inclusiveness Target Country) conference grant call for the year 2022, aiming at supporting PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and Early Career Investigators from Participating ITC to attend international conferences relevant to the theme of Underground Built Heritage as catalyser for Community Valorisation, which is not specifically organized by the COST Action. Essential information for the potential ITC grant applicants is listed as the below:

Eligibility Criteria:

1. The Applicant must be at least one of the three following study / employment statuses: a PhD student, a postdoctoral fellow, or an Early Career Investigator (ECI) (a young researcher and innovator under 40 years old, prior to the application deadline April 30^th, 2022), whose study/employment status must be proved by his/her home institution.
2. The Applicant’s primary affiliation in an institution must be in an ITC (Inclusiveness Target Country) [1] or in an NNC (Near Neighbour Country)[2].
3. The Applicant must deliver an oral / poster presentation at the conference in question on the topics relevant for the COST Action CA18110, and clearly specify it. 
4. The conference to be attended by the Applicant must have an International scientific committee and to be held (in presence or online) before the 31^st of October 2022.

Grant Amount:

1. Maximum EUR 2,000 for face-to-face events, including Conference Fees (max EUR 500 for conferences fee)
2. Maximum EUR 500 for Virtual Conferences fees.

Deadline:

1. The application deadline for face-to-face events is April 30^th, 2022.
2. No application deadline for online conferences.
3. The application (face-to-face or online) should be submitted at least 30 days before the conference start date.

Apply procedure:

To apply for a Conference Grant within this Cost Action (CA18110), please submit your applications via e-COST following the user guide in the link below before the deadline:

https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2021/12/Grant-Awarding-userguide.pdf

Find a conference:

The COST ACTION CA18110 does not officially suggest any recommended conferences / events; the grant applicants should make their own decisions. However, the conference should be related to Action activities

Please double check to which Grant Period the conference belongs. If a conference takes place between April and October (current year), it belongs to the current Grant Period and should be applied in this ITC CG call announcement.

Example:

• The conference in October 2022 is funded from GP3 budget. (ITC GC for GP3).
  • The conference in November 2022 is funded from GP4 budget. (ITC GC for GP4).

Evaluation process (for face-to-face events):

1. After the deadline, the ITC grant evaluation panel² will start to check the eligibility of all the submitted applications, followed by evaluation of their compatibility and relevance with the topic of the Action and academic excellence.

1. The eligible applications will be ranked and the actual number of applications to be funded is determined by the available budget. The ITC Conference Grants Manager confirms available funding with the Action Chair.
2. Action Chair approves the applications following the ranking list.
3. The ITC Conference Grants Manager informs successful Applicants about the result of the grant approval, and the Grant Holder sends the grant letter.

Evaluation process (for online conferences):

1. Once received the application, the ITC grant evaluation panel² will start to check the eligibility of the submitted application, followed by evaluation of its compatibility and relevance with the topic of the Action and academic excellence.

1. The ITC Conference Grants Manager checks the availability of funding with the Action Chair.
2. Action Chair approves the application following the evaluation
3. The ITC Conference Grants Manager informs the successful Applicant about the result of the grant approval, and the Grant Holder sends the grant letter.

Criteria for awarding ITC conference grant:

ITC grant will be awarded according to the COST key principles of excellence, inclusivity, and balance. Criteria for evaluation will be as follows:

1. The eligibility of the applicant’s profile, based on the abovementioned criteria
2. The excellence of the Applicant’s curriculum-vitae and his / her potential added value for the Action
3. The relevance and impact of the conference paper in the field of the COST Action CA18110
4. The quality and clarity of the conference paper
5. The relevance of the proposed conference for the Action topics and dissemination
6. The balance of gender, geography, and research fields.

Members of the ITC conference grant evaluation panel are listed as follows:

• Zili Li (IE)
• Aleksandra Krstic-Furundzic (RS)
• Natália Botica (PT)
• Ernesto Marcheggiani (IT)
• Petja Ivanova-Radovanova (BG)
• Charalampos Baniotopoulos (UK)

Best wishes,

Dr. Zili Li

The ITC Conference Manager

[1] The following countries are considered ITC:  Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, and Turkey

[2] The following countries are considered NNC: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo (Designation without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence), Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine (Designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the Member States on this issue), [Russia] (Subject to confirmation by the EC), Syria, Tunisia, and Ukraine