Short – Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) aim at supporting mobility and collaboration among researchers participating in the CLEANFOREST Action. An STSM consists of a visit to a host institution located in a different country that the country of affiliation and should contribute to the objectives of the Action.
STSM travel grants are available for researchers actively participating in CLEANFOREST WG activities. We particularly encourage participation from young researchers. According to the COST Action, a young researcher is a researcher or innovator under the age of 40. PhD Students or postdoctoral fellows, but not MSc students, are also eligible applicants for the STSM grants.
STSMs shall only be used to support networking activities and other expenses specifically supporting the Action and dedicated to achieving the Action’s aims and objectives. STSM Grants may not be used for either drafting, writing or submitting proposals for the purpose of acquiring funding for national, European or internationally sourced research grants.
Period of STSM travel grants and application deadline
Applications can be submitted anytime until March 31, 2026.
We do not set a deadline for the completion of the STSMs, but the STSM report must be submitted by May 31, 2025. In exceptional circumstances the report submission deadline may be extended, after approval by the Action’s Grant Holder.
This call focuses on an STSM with a specific topic that aims at supporting Working Group 3 activities. Thus, we offer an STSM grant in the following topic:
Title: Technical reporting for a synthesis on N deposition effects to litterfall in European forests
In this synthesis, we aim to understand the role of N deposition to litterfall in forests across Europe, and how N deposition interacts with other litterfall drivers. Our objective is to combine ICPF data with published and unpublished data, to untangle the role of N deposition on litterfall alongside forest disturbances and other drivers. This is a novel study highly relevant to studies of N deposition to soil C stocks, because the relationship between litter and soil C stocks is well-studied while the role of N deposition to litterfall is under-represented. In this role, you will assist in the technical reporting of this team-based data synthesis. This can involve report-writing, quality-standard checking, email communications, and group meetings. The outcome is intended for publication in a peer-reviewed ISI journal, and this placement provides an opportunity for the candidate to have a substantial role in 1-2 articles. Having an attention to detail would benefit this role, and it involves collaborating with many researchers, including working alongside peers who are actively conducting data syntheses.
The STSM will last 2 to 4 weeks.The host Institute will be the Institute of Landscape Ecology of the University of Münster, in Germany. The candidate will work under the primary supervision of Mana Gharun (mana.gharun@uni-muenster.de).
Funding
- Financial support for STSM is a travel grant awarded to individuals and it is not an employment.
- The indicative duration of each STSM is indicated in the description of each position. The applicants should consider that the maximum amount to be awarded is 4,000 € per grant, based on the duration of the mission, the costs level of the host country and a reasonable justification of expenses.
- Taking into account the number of approved applications and the total STSM budget for this grant period of the Action, applicants may be asked to limit their costs.
- STSM grantees must make their own arrangements related to personal, health, taxation and social security.
- Payment for all costs have to be made using a private bank account, NOT an institutional bank account, to be eligible for reimbursement.
- Reimbursement will be carried out after the completion of each STSM and the approval of all required documentation.
Application
- Applicants need to have an e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu/.
- The applications must be submitted online at https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants by selecting “Apply for Grant” and then “Short-Term Scientific Mission grant”.
- In addition to the information requested by the online platform, the applicants should upload the following documents in a single PDF file:
- The STSM grant Application, based on the e-COST template (https://www.cost.eu/STSM_GrantApplication)An invitation and confirmation letter on the agreement from the host institution in receiving the applicant and on the responsible host affiliated researcher.A cover letter clearly stating the relevance of the proposed activities in relation to the CLEANFOREST COST Action and the benefit for the applicant.A short CV (maximum 2 pages) including recent publications, if applicable.
- The budget requested (in €) including the list of estimated costs and justification.
Additional information on the submission via the e-COST system can be found at: https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2021/12/Grant-Awarding-userguide.pdf
Evaluation
The applications will be evaluated by the Grant Awarding Committee and members of the Core teams of WG3. The evaluation’s results will be communicated to the applicants.
The evaluation criteria will be: (a) the CV of the applicant, (b) the contribution of the application’s goals and expected outcomes to the priorities set in the topic, (c) the feasibility of the application’s workplan, (d) the justification of expenses, (e) the Action’s budget limitations. Attention will be given to promoting gender balance, young researchers and geographical inclusiveness.
Funded applications, reimbursement and dissemination requirements
The template for the final report can be found at https://www.cost.eu/STSM_report_template. The STSM reports must be submitted by May 31, 2026. In exceptional circumstances the report submission deadline may be extended, after approval by the Action’s Grant Holder.
Written approval of the STSM scientific report will be uploaded on e-COST for archiving purposes. Failure to submit the required report on time will effectively cancel the grant. The grant payment will be executed within 30 days after the approval of the report by the Grant Awarding and STSM Coordinators as well as the Host.
In terms of outcomes’ dissemination, the grantees are expected to deliver a short talk or webinar.
Any publication resulted from the STSMs should acknowledge the CLEANFOREST Action.
Questions/Inquiries
For general STSM inquiries, please contact:
- Mariangela Fotelli (fotelli@elgo.gr), STSM Coordinator
- Yann Salmon (yann.salmon@helsinki.fi), Grant Awarding Coordinator
For inquiries related to the WG3-specific topic, please contact Mana Gharun (mana.gharun@uni-muenster.de), host of the STSM.