The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) programme is the first and one of the largest European intergovernmental networks for the coordination of European scientific and technical research. Its objective is to strengthen scientific and technical research in Europe by funding the establishment of collaborative networks between researchers.
The tool used by the programme is the COST Actions, which are networks established on the initiative of researchers without pre-defined thematic priorities. The selected projects will receive funding to carry out the activities previously established in the 4-year joint work programme, to carry out the following networking activities, such as:
Scientific meetings of the Working Groups
Workshops and Seminars
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)
Training workshops and scientific conferences
Dissemination activities
COST calls are permanently open, with two cut-off dates per year.
Spain is one of the most active countries in COST, as it is currently involved in more than 300 actions, which makes it the third country with the highest number of participants.
COST representation in Spain is held by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
In order to launch a COST Action, a proposal must have been submitted in advance by a network of proposers. Such a network will be represented by a lead proposer, with an initial size of at least 7 COST countries, of which 4 is the minimum number of proposers that must belong to the COST Inclusion Target Countries. The minimum number of Inclusion Target Countries required to apply for a new proposal increases with the total number of proposers, see Annex.