Eligibility and terms

Funding, Execution and Duration

A Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) grant usually covers travel and subsistence costs. The financial support granted by a STSM is a contribution to the costs of the project/mission and may not necessarily cover all the costs. The STSMs duration is minimum one week (5 working days) and maximum 90 days.  In general, grants will represent an average contribution of about 1500 euros from NEUBIAS to the applicant; and the maximum defined by COST is 2500 euros. Check the Full description and the Vademecum for exact conditions. Special provisions may apply for Early Career Investigators (up to 180 days, max. 3500 euros).

The STSM will be allowed to start as soon as the evaluation grants it. Scientific evaluations will be executed within 2 weeks after the Call deadline (several Calls per year). The STSM grant will be paid to the successful applicants on completion of the STSM and after evaluation of the STSM report.

All STSMs should be terminated 15 days before the end of the current COST Grant Period. End of Grant Period 2 is on 30th of April, 2018. All STSMs in Grant Period 2 should be executed and reported by April 15th, 2018.

STSMs selection criteria

1. The application serves the goal of fostering collaboration in the field of Bioimage Analysis, in particular, establishing new scientific contacts.

2. The STSM serves for the exchange of know-how, meaning that researchers either exchange expertise due to the planned scientific visit, get practical skills by learning unique “technology” not available in their home institution and/or learn new theoretical methods or experimental approaches.

3. The scientific quality of the proposed STSM is high, its timeliness is justified, and the work plan for its realization is well founded.

4. The application should be financially justified meaning that the estimate of expenses is reasonable.

STSM Evaluation

Criteria to Score the STSM proposal Weight in Final Score
CORE (for all applications)
Relevance of the STSM goals with NEUBIAS objectives 25%
Relevance of the Host Lab's expertise to support the STSM goals 15%
Realistic goals of the project as compared to its targeted duration 20%
The STSM serves the goal of fostering collaboration in the Field of BioImage Analysis 10%
Subcategory (A or B)
A: For Analysts and/or Life Scientists evolving in Imaging Facilities: Potential for dissemination and technology transfer back at home country. The STSM serves for the exchange of know-how 30%
B: For Analysts and/or Life Scientists evolving in a research Lab: Potential for publication and/or dissemination of the results. Scientific relevance and timeliness of the proposed STSM 30%
Criteria taken into Account for final decision after evaluation
If the applicant was involved in a previous NEUBIAS STSM
Geographical distribution of applicants across the same STSM call
If applicant is Early Career Investigator or PhD student
Gender balance across the same STSM Call
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Applicant and Host Institution

The applicant must be engaged in an official research program as post-graduate student, postdoctoral fellow or research staff, or can be employed by, or affiliated to, an institution or legal entity, which has within its remit a clear association with performing research.

The following table shows the scenarios available to eligible STSM applicants.

Legend:

* NNC: Near Neighbor Countries  that have been approved by NEUBIAS Management Committee
** IPC: International Partner Countries    that have been approved by NEUBIAS Management Committee
*** Any intergovernmental scientific research organization that is responsible for infrastructures and laboratories
whose members are countries, and the majority of which are COST Member Countries or Cooperating State (e.g. EMBL)

 

Mobility: From Where to Where ?

STSM applicants

HOME Institution HOST Institution
From a Participating COST Country To ANOTHER Participating COST Country
To an Approved NNC* Institution
To an approved IPC** Institution
To an approved European RTD*** Organisation
From an approved NNC* Country To Participating COST Country
From an Approved RTD*** Organization To Participating COST Country
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Hostlabs

A NEUBIAS Host Labs is where STSMs grantees were hosted, in COST Countries participating in NEUBIAS. ANY Lab can become a Hostlab by successfully executing an STSM.

Anywhere in NEUBIAS COST countries and partner countries

The map below shows the location of organizations/platforms who have hosted NEUBIAS’ STSMs and updates frequently.

Hostlabs can be located anywhere in COST countries who have signed the MoU of the Action, and in few other locations in International Partner Countries (for now: USA, Australia, Singapore). Applicants typically agree with the lab of their choice to host the mission. Please, note that the applicant is responsible for choosing and contacting the Host institution and for organizing the application process.

In kind support and collaboration

The STSM is not targeted to " full service " in Image analysis, i.e. the Host-labs will not perform on demand analysis of users’ data, but should rather support scientists in a collaborative way to develop tools and knowledge to perform their own work of analysis. Interaction with the Host labs is not expected to be full time during the Mission, the applicant is expected to work independently on the project for an important part of the stay. Host Labs are not funded under this framework and contribute in kind to the collaborative work.

BioImage Analysis, Not to access Instruments !

The scientific context of STSMs should be strictly limited to BioImage-Analysis-driven projects involving development of Image analysis technology and/or knowledge transfer in the field of Life Science. Access to and operation of Imaging instrumentation will in general not be contemplated in the collaboration with the Host Labs. Any Exception will require very strong scientific justification and workplan description.

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