PlantEd – COST Action CA18111 – Genome editing in plants

ITC Conference grants

Here below is a CV template for the ITC Conference grant application:

A Conference Grant is a fixed financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the Applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the application. Conference Grants do not necessarily cover all the expenses related to participating in a given conference. A Conference Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the selected Grantee (see COST Vademecum Section 9).

The calculation of the financial contribution for each ITC Conference Grant must respect the following criteria:

  • Up to a maximum of EUR 1,000 in total can be afforded to each successful ITC applicant.
  • Up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses. When meal and accommodation expenses are supported by the hosting institution as part of the provisions offered in their conference package, the amount for subsistence afforded to each eligible participant must be deducted from the Grant.
  • Up to a maximum of EUR 500 can be claimed for the conference fees to be incurred by the selected Grantee.

Eligibility criteria

  • The Applicant’s primary affiliation must be in an Institution located in a participating Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) (see Vademecum, page 7). The ITCs are as follows: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey.
  • Only PhD students and Early Career Investigators (up to 8 years after PhD) participating in PlantEd and coming from ITC countries are eligible.
  • Attendance at European conferences is preferred. However, conferences held elsewhere can also be considered. Conferences, meetings and other activities organized by the PlantEd COST Action 18111 are not eligible for funding.
  • The Applicant must make an oral/poster presentation at the conference in question and must be listed in the official event/conference program. The main subject of the oral/poster presentation at the approved conference must be on a topic related to the PlantEd COST Action (CA18111) and must acknowledge PlantEd COST Action (18111) for support (see COST Vademecum Section 10). For the acknowledgement to COST, the following format should be used at all times: Work carried out in the frame of the COST-Action “Genome Editing in plants-a Tool with Transformative Potential” (PlantEd, ref. CA 18111) funded by the European Commission.”
  • The application must be submitted at least 45 days before the conference start date.
  • The participation of each applicant must be pre-approved by the PlantEd ITC Conference grant committee.

How to apply

  • Applicants must read carefully the rules detailed in COST Vademecum (Section 9).
  • Applicants must be registered as PlantEd participants (can be done through the PlantEd webpage https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA18111/#tabs|Name:overview).
  • Applicants must register for an e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu/user/login.
  • Applicants must fill in and submit the ITC application form in the e-COST platform.
  • The following documents are required:
    • a short description of involvement in the COST Action PlantEd,
    • acceptance letter from the conference organizers stating that the abstract has been accepted as an oral/poster presentation,
    • the abstract submitted to the conference,
    • invitation letter from the conference organizers (if available).

Evaluation

After the deadline, the applications will be assessed by the ITC Conference Grant Committee, which will perform the scientific and budgetary assessment of the applications against the perceived contribution that the proposed conference participation will make against the scientific objectives outlined in the Action’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). All applications will be ranked.

The Applicants will be notified for the outcome of their application within two weeks.

Members of the ITC Conference Grant Committee:

  1. Vladislava Galovic (ITC Conference grant coordinator), vladislava.galovic@gmail.com
  2. Fabien Nogue, fabien.nogue@inra.fr
  3. Maria Dulce Carlos Antunes, mantunes@ualg.pt
  4. Anna Coll, Anna.Coll@nib.si
  5. Dragana Miladinovic, dragana.miladinovic@nsseme.com
  6. Meredith Schuman, meredith.schuman@geo.uzh.ch

Reimbursement

The Grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the conference in question to submit a scientific report to e-COST. The scientific report should include a picture of the grantee in front of the poster (in case of poster presentation) or during the talk (if oral presentation) with tacit approval to use the picture in the web page and other dissemination materials from the PlantEd Action. Payment of the Grant is subject to the submitted scientific report being approved by the ITC Conference Manager. Failure to submit the scientific report within 30 days calendar from the end date of the conference will effectively cancel the Grant.