COST (www.cost.eu) is the longest-running European framework supporting trans-national cooperation among researchers, engineers and scholars across Europe. COST Action CA15222 (http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/ca/CA15222) aims at gathering a critical mass of international researchers and coordinating them as a team that develops and evaluates a transdisciplinary framework for health care, consisting of novel concepts, methodologies and technologies.
1) What Short Term Scientific Missions (STSM) are
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) are exchange visits aimed at supporting individual mobility, strengthening existing networks and fostering collaboration between researchers. A STSM should specifically contribute to the scientific objectives 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 / organisations.
STSMs are particularly intended for Early Career Investigators (ECIs), i.e. a researcher whose career spun less than 8 years between the date of the PhD/doctorate (or similar experience) and the date of involvement in CA15222. Periods of career leave have to be added to this time span.
2) Eligibility Rules: Applicants’ status
STSM applicants must be engaged in an official research programme as a PhD Student or postdoctoral fellow or can be employed by, or affiliated to, an Institution or legal entity that has within its remit a clear association with performing research.
3) STSMs: international mobility rules
The institutions / organisations where applicants pursue their main strand of research are considered as Home institutions. The Host institution is the institution / organisation that will host the successful applicant.
The following table shows the scenarios available to eligible STSM applicants:
