STSM and Conference Grants

Calls for CONFERENCE GRANTS (ITC, YRI and DC) for the 3rd Grant Period

 COST-Action EU-MACE is pleased to announce the opening of the Conference Grant Call for the 3rd Grant Period (3GP). During this period, three types of Conference Grants will be supported. This call outlines the priority research areas and selected conferences identified by the Grant Award Committee, in alignment with the Action’s overarching objectives and planned activities for 3GP.

Prior to submission, all applicants are required to consult:

Applications that do not align with the Action’s objectives or fail to meet eligibility requirements will not be considered.

Action objective:

The overarching objective of EU-MACE is to establish a novel form of collaboration across the entire innovation value chain for materials in clean energy applications. This will be achieved by overcoming fragmentation in materials research and technology development, and by enabling informed decision-making among diverse stakeholders.

More specifically, EU-MACE aims to develop a systemic approach centred on Materials Acceleration Platforms (MAPs), facilitating the accelerated integration and scale-up of advanced, sustainable functional materials for low-carbon technologies. A detailed description of the Action’s objectives is available in the MoU (https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22123/).

The target audience includes participants at major international conferences in:

  • materials science (particularly those including energy-related sessions),
  • data science and open science,
  • renewable energy technologies (e.g. photovoltaics, batteries),
  • industrial innovation forums, particularly those engaging manufacturers in the renewable energy sector.

Example research topics:

  • Materials Acceleration Platforms (e.g. software development, robotics, automation, simulation integration, system operation, etc.) and/or how they can be connected to legacy equipment and simulations
  • Activities related to the Action’s transversal tasks:
    • Materials data (metadata science, management, etc.)
    • Sustainability
    • Experimental automation (workflow)
    • High throughput (ML assisted) materials simulation, design and characterization
    • Digital Twin, materials integration, scale-up production, etc.

Types of Conference Grants (CGs) supported

  • Inclusiveness Target Country Conference Grants (ITC-CG) support an oral presentation of the applicant’s own work, aligned with EU-MACE objectives, at a high-level conference organised by a third party (i.e. not organised or co-organised by the Action). Applicants must be affiliated with an institution in an Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) or a Near Neighbour Country (NNC).
  • Young Researchers and Innovators Conference Grants (YRI-CGs) Support an oral or poster presentation by a Young Researcher or Innovator (YRI), presenting their own work aligned with EU-MACE objectives at a third-party conference.
  • Dissemination Conference Grants (DCG) Support an oral presentation by an active Action participant (no age or geographical restrictions) aimed at disseminating the outcomes and activities of the Action at a third-party conference.

ITC-CG Eligibility (cf. Funding Documents & Guidelines | COST)

Applicants must be members of EU-MACE affiliated with a legal entity located in an ITC or NNC participating in the Action.  

  • ITC (Inclusiveness Target Countries) – Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine*.
  • NNC (Near Neighbour Countries) – Algeria, Azerbaijan, [Belarus]*, Egypt, the Faroe Islands, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, [Russia]*, Syria, and Tunisia.
  • Specific COST measures are taken regarding the participation of researchers/innovators from certain countries. Please consult: Annex-I-level-A-Country-and-Organisations-Table-Version-1.7.pdf (cost.eu)for more information.

Additional rules specific to EU-MACE COST Action:

  • All eligible conferences must take place before October 1st, 2026 to ensure timely submission of the report and the grant payment within 3GP.
  • Grants are reimbursed after the conference, upon submission of all required documentation. Pre-financing is not available.
  • Acknowledgement of COST Action EU-MACE and the European Union as funding sources is mandatory in all presentations (poster and oral).
  • ITC-CG and YRI-CG recipients must include a one-page description of the Action (to be provided) in their presentation materials.
  • YRI-CG recipients are expected to present their work in the bi-monthly Young EU-MACE webinar series.
  • ITC-CG and YRI-CG recipients must submit a report within one month of the conference. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of the grant. Reports may be published on the Action’s website and social media channels.

How to acknowledge COST funding?

  • All outputs resulting from a Conference Grant must include the following acknowledgement: “This article/publication is based upon work from COST Action EU-MACE, CA22123, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).”

Priority conferences (Special provisions):

The following conferences have been identified as particularly relevant for 3GP.

  • Materials Science and Engineering Congress 2026, September 29th – October 01st 2026, Darmstadt, Germany (https://mse-congress.de/). Priority will be given to Symposium D09: Materials Acceleration Platforms: Digital Workflows for Accelerated Material Discovery and Deployment will be supported. This symposium will bring together researchers and practitioners working on Materials Acceleration Platforms (MAPs), digital workflows, automation, AI-driven discovery, and accelerated deployment of advanced materials.
  • Artificial Intelligence for Advanced Materials, May 19th – May 21st 2026, Madrid, Spain (https://ai4am.net/2026/about.php). All topics of the conference are relevant, provided that the work presented are in line with the EU-MACE objectives (see example research focus above and the Action MoU).
  • European Conference on Thermoelectrics, September 14th – September 18th 2026, Edinburg, UK (https://iop.eventsair.com/ect2026/). All topics of the conference are relevant, provided that the work presented are in line with the EU-MACE objectives (see example research focus above and the Action MoU).
  • AI4X – Accelerate Conference 2026, June 15th – June 19th 2026, Singapore (https://ai4x.cc/). We foresee to support 1 Dissemination Conference Grant to promote the EU-MACE project.
  • NuMat2026: The Nuclear Materials Conference, September 21st – September 24th 2026 (https://www.elsevier.com/events/conferences/all/the-nuclear-materials-conference), Halifax, Canada. We foresee to support 1 Dissemination Conference Grant to promote the EU-MACE project or 1 ITC or YRI grants related to data-driven analysis/MAPs.

Note: Strong and explicit alignment between the submitted abstract and the EU-MACE objectives (as defined in the MoU) is a mandatory requirement for funding approval.

Evaluation criteria and procedure:

  • Applications are evaluated individually on a rolling basis by an ad-hoc expert committee.
  • Evaluation is typically completed within three weeks of submission.
  • Applicants are advised to consult the COST Annotated Rules (Annex 2) for procedural details.
  • Applications must be submitted via the e-COST platform.

Submission Requirements

Applicants must:

    • Completed Conference Grant application form
    • Accepted abstract and official acceptance letter
    • Letter of support from the home institution  
    • Any additional required documentation

Note: Conference Grants are contributions and may not fully cover all participation costs (e.g. registration, travel, accommodation, subsistence).

Important dates:

  • Application period: 1st April - 31st August 2026 (funds allocated on a rolling basis)
  • Notification: Within 3 to 4 weeks after the submission
  • Conference attendance deadline: before 1st October 2026

 

Grant Award Coordinator:

Dr. Peter Tatarko (peter.tatarko@savba.sk)

STSM Grant Coordinator: Peter Tatarko
(peter.tatarko@savba.sk)


EU-MACE’s STSM grants are reserved for Legacy Lab2 Task participants within the Action. Applications from non-LegacyLab2 members will be considered only at the end of the grant period, subject to the availability of remaining funds.

What are STSM?

Short-term scientific missions (STSM) are exchange visits between researchers involved in a COST Action, allowing a scientist to visit an institution or laboratory in a country different from the scientist home affiliation. The start and end date of a STSM must be within the active Grant Period of the Action. Their aim is to foster collaboration in excellent research infrastructures and share new techniques that may not be available in a participant’s home institution or laboratory.

STSM Grant priority is given to applicants whose scientific/research collaboration objectives resonates with that of EU-MACE: Create a new form of alliance across the entire innovation value chain of materials for clean energy applications by overcoming the fragmentation of materials research and technology development and via supporting informed decisions by diverse stakeholders. In other words, EU-MACE strives to build a systemic approach around MAPs for accelerated integration and scale-up production of advanced functional materials for low-carbon technologies. STSM promoting cross-border interactions between MAPs and cultivating/discovering of materials acceleration techniques by individual research groups, for example, are strongly encouraged. 

More information on the STSM grants is found in Annexes 2 and 5 of the Annotated Rules for COST Actions. 

How to Apply?

Calls for Short Term Scientific Missions applications are periodically opened and published on our website. The applications must first be submitted on the e-COST website https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants/add, and follow the instructions within.

  • The following documents must also be uploaded to e-COST:
    Application form (template available on e-COST)
  • Confirmation of the host on the agreement from the host institution in receiving the application
  • Support letter from the home institution
  • CV, including a list of academic publications if applicable.

Applications must be eligible (see Annexes 2 and 5 of the Annotated Rules for COST Actions) and in line with the Action research topics.

For this grant period, the applications will be evaluated by the Grant Award coordination team on a monthly basis,

  • Scientific quality
  • Relevance and benefit to the Action objective
  • Feasibility and soundness of the approach proposed (where relevant)

The selection will follow the COST policies on inclusiveness (gender, age, geography).

  • The applicants the call will receive the results of the selection from the Grant Award coordinator.
  • A grant amount different from the requested amount may be decided by the Action.
  • The selected researchers should wait for the official invitation from the Grant Holder before booking any travel arrangements.