Visibility Booster Grants (VBG)

VISIBILITY BOOSTER GRANTS (VBG)

PURPOSE

The goal of INTERACT’s Visibility Booster Grants is two-fold:

  • To support activities leading to a strong visibility of the COST action. This may include, but is not limited to, INTERACT workshops, special sessions, panels or other activities in renowned international science and technology related conferences and events organized by third parties. Activities in MC/Technical meetings, training days/schools or other events directly organized by INTERACT are explicitly excluded.
  • To support initiatives aimed to significantly increase the visibility/raise the profile of female researchers in the research community and beyond. This may include, but is not limited to, training activities for encouraging gender balance in the general area of wireless communications, activities organized by INTERACT’s Women in Radio Science initiative, similar initiatives of sister scientific societies, etc.

VBG grants are intended to partly cover travel and accommodation expenses as well as registration fees, if any, for in-person participation in the aforementioned initiatives.

ELIGIBILITY AND TIMEFRAME

Both the institution and the applicant must be members of INTERACT. VBG grants are open to all researchers enrolled in this COST action. However, other things being equal, priority will be given to young researchers (as per COST’s definition), female researchers, and regular participants to INTERACT meetings.

All VBG activities must be carried out within the second reporting period of INTERACT, that is, on or before October 31, 2024.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND EVALUATION

Applications must be submitted according to the procedure detailed below. Based on the available budget, an indicative amount of 1000,00 EUR per grant will be awarded.

Step 1: Formal registration of the grant request via the e-COST platform.

An eligible applicant submits a request for a grant by logging into , clicking on ‘Grant Applications’, then on ‘Apply for new Grant’  and finally on the ‘Continue’ button under ‘Dissemination Conference Grant’. Alternatively, click here.

After filling out the form, the applicant needs to upload the following administrative and financial information:

  • VBG Grant application: Please, use this template
  • Acceptance letter from the conference/event organizers, confirming either your speaking slot, session, workshop, presentation, etc.
  • Copy of the abstract accepted. If applicable. If not, upload a blank document.
  • Applicant’s CV (select ‘Other’ in the drop-down menu): A full CV including a list of academic publications, if applicable.
  • A short description of your involvement in the CA20120 INTERACT COST Action (select ‘Other’ in the drop-down menu).

Step 2: Evaluation of the VBG grant application.
The Grant Awarding coordinator organizes the evaluation of the VBG application.

IMPORTANT: Applications will be evaluated in batches. All the applications received in a month will be evaluated within the first week of the next month. Applicants are encouraged to identify the suitable batch in relation with the timeline of their activities.

Step 4: Approval by the Core Group.

The Action Chair or the Grant Awarding Coordinator informs the Grant Holder that the proposed VBG has been approved.

Step 5: Approval by the Grant Holder.
The Grant Holder approves the VBG and informs the applicant.

Step 6: Start of the activity.
After the reception of the approval, you can start your activity.

AFTER THE ACTIVITY

After completing the activity, the awardee is required to submit the following documents for approval:

  • Scientific Report: Following this link (coming soon)
  • Certificate of attendance.
  • Programme of the event, conference, proceedings, indicating the presentation (oral or poster).
  • Copy of the given presentation (oral or poster), if applicable


Notes:

  • The deadline to submit the last supporting document is 30 calendar days from the end of the participation in the conference/event (and always within 15 calendar days from the end date of the Grant Period). The submission of the report is mandatory, otherwise the grant will be cancelled. Late submission, beyond the deadline, can also lead to the cancellation of the grant.
  • If the application is rejected, the Grant Awarding Coordinator must provide a justification to guide the grantee in her/his resubmission.