Successes of the COST programme

30th January 2013

Nadine Castillo

Director, Policy and Strategy Unit

Malta Council for Science and Technology

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• Bringing researchers together to promote trans-national coordination of nationally-funded research

• COST contributes to reducing and opening the European Research Area to cooperation worldwide

• Funded through the EU’s Framework programme

The 27 EU Member StatesThe 27 EU Member States

u EFTA Member StatesEFTA Member States IcelandIceland

NorwayNorway

SwitzerlandSwitzerland

Acceding & Candidate Acceding & Candidate CountriesCountries

Croatia Croatia

FYR of Macedonia (FYROM)*FYR of Macedonia (FYROM)*

TurkeyTurkey

Other CountriesOther Countries Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina

Republic ofRepublic of Serbia Serbia **

COST Co-operating StatesCOST Co-operating States IsraelIsrael * not associated with FP

COST Countries36 COST Countries

A bottom-up approach to Research

• COST operates through Actions, grouped under 9 domains depending on the area of research they cover.

• Each Action lasts for 4 years

• Requires a minimum participation of 5 COST Member countries.

• Proposals for Actions submitted through a bi-annual open call for proposals.

• Researchers from different countries, who were not involved in the original consortium can also apply to join the COST Action

Importance of COST in Research1. Capacity

a) COST acts to connect high-quality scientific minds across Europe and internationally

b) Enables the creation of communities of research in various fields

2. Networkinga) Building consortia that can lead to the submission of transnational

project proposals for the EU’s Framework Programme. b) Interdisciplinary, facilitating the participation from researchers

outside the academic community, such as SMEs, public entities and NGOs.

3. Impacta) Formulation of publications and dissemination of information increasing

impact on policy-makers and decision-making bodies.

§ Science management meetings (MC + WG)Science management meetings (MC + WG)§ Scientific workshopsScientific workshops§ Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)§ Training SchoolsTraining Schools§ DisseminationDissemination

What is funded by COST?

No funds for research as such but researchers get reimbursed for expenses in conjunction with flights and accommodation to COST meetings

Malta’s Representatives

Dr. Janet Mifsud is the COST National Contact (CNC) and represents Malta in the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO)

1. Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences (BMBS) - Prof Giuseppe deGiovanni

2. Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Technologies (CMST) – Prof Joe Grima

3. Earth System Science and Environmental Management (ESSEM) – Prof Ray Ellul

4. Food and Agriculture (FA) - Dr Anna McElhatton

5. Forests, their Products and Services (FPS) – Larry Shoemake

6. Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health (ISCH) - Dr Helen Grech

7. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) – Eng Saviour Zammit

8. Materials, Physical and Nanosciences (MPNS) – Prof Luciano Mule Stagno

9. Transport and Urban Development (TUD) - Dr Maria Attard

10. Transdomain Proposals Standing Assessment Body (TDP-SAB) - Dr Vincent Buhagiar

COST in MaltaSince 2010, Malta’s participation in COST continued to increase several times fold, compared to other EU countries, across all the domains

Year No of new COST actions Malta participated in

Number of new researchers from Malta taking part in COST actions

2008 1 1

2009 0 0

2010 6 12

2011 36 42

2012 38 56

COST Events in Malta in 2012• April 2012:

– “Quantum Malta 2012: Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics” Joint Conference

• MP 1006 - Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics and MP0905 - Black Holes in a Violent Universe

– Fire Engineering Conference and PhD Training School • TU 0904 International Fire Engineering and Response

• November 2012: – Training School in Underwater Site Recording & Conservation

• TD 0902 Submerged Prehistoric Archaeology and Landscapes of the Continental Shelf (SPLASHCOS)

Four COST Meetings being planned in Malta for 2013

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Contact:Janet Mifsud

Nadine Castillo

http://www.cost.eu/