Call Open: Virtual Mobility (VM) Grants for MedPlants4Vet Researchers

What is a Virtual Mobility Grant?

A Virtual Mobility (VM) Grant supports collaborative activities conducted remotely among researchers in the MedPlant4Vet network. These grants aim to:

• Foster capacity building and knowledge exchange.
• Promote integration of data, methods, or protocols.
• Support development of online tools, publications, databases or training materials.

VM Grants enable researchers to stay active in the network without needing physical travel, making them ideal for interdisciplinary and international collaboration.

Who Can Apply?

Applicants must:

• Be a participant of the MedPlant4Vet Action (CA22109).
• Be affiliated with a legal entity in a COST Full or Cooperating Member or Near Neighbour Country (NNC).
• Have an updated e-COST profile (https://e-services.cost.eu).
• Participation from Early Career Investigators (ECIs) and applicants from Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs) is strongly encouraged.
• Applicants must be PhD or MSc students, or researchers in veterinary pharmacology/toxicology, pharmacognosy, botany, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, phytotherapy, or phytomedicine areas. Due to the specific focus of the study, applications from other research areas will not be considered.

Eligible Activities

Eligible VM activities are as follows:

• Analysis of historical literature or historical textbooks relevant to traditional medicinal plant uses in different countries/languages for veterinary medicine.
  • Fill out the excel forms for a structured datasheets created by the WG3, Subgroup 1.
  • Submission of the inventory of the plant species as described in the deliverables.
• Analysis of open source/general literature relevant to traditional medicinal plant uses in different countries/languages for veterinary medicine.
  • Fill out the excel forms for a structured datasheets created by the WG3, Subgroup 2.
  • Submission of the inventory of the plant species as described in the deliverables.
• Creation of structured datasheets for WG3, aligning with MedPlant4Vet’s data management strategies.

Application Requirements

Applications are submitted via the e-COST system and must include:

• Virtual Mobility Grant Application (Annex 1)
• CV (maximum 2 pages, PDF)
• A letter of commitment from the home institution signed by the home supervisor indicating the commitment to executing the expected plan (Annex 2).
• Mail of confirmation (to be attached as pdf) from the host institution (WG leaders) upon the agreement with the home institution supervisor who should contact them. For tasks under WG3, this letter is prepared by subgroup leaders to confirm the workplan.
  • Subgroup 1 (Historical Textbooks) – Alvaro M. Fdez-Blanco Barreto 

  • Subgroup 2 (Open Source Literature) – Liliana Susy Vargas Murga

    Please do not contact the subgroup leaders directly.

• A valid student ID or a researcher confirmation document from the employing authority; verifying the applicant’s field of work in veterinary pharmacology/toxicology, pharmacognosy, botany, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, phytotherapy, or phytomedicine. Applications from other research areas will not be considered due to the specific focus of the study.

Grant Amount and Budget Framework

• Each Virtual Mobility Grant awarded under this call provides a fixed contribution of €1,200 to successful applicants.
• The grant is a flat-rate contribution intended to cover the time and resources invested by the grantee in virtual collaboration. It does not require receipts or expense reports.
• Activities to be covered the VM call will be between 15.08.2025-25.09.2025. All expected excel files to be filled and a report to be submitted to the Subgroup leaders no later than 27.09.2025.
• Payment is made after the successful submission and approval of the final report in e-COST.
• The number of funded VM Grants will depend on the available MedPlant4Vet Action budget for the ongoing Grant Period.
• All activities must be completed within the current Grant Period and must comply with COST rules as described in the  COST Annotated Rules (COST 094/21) and the Grant Awarding User Guide.  

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by the MedPlant4Vet Grant Awarding Committee based on:

• Applications will be evaluated with consideration for country distribution, ensuring sufficient diversity to cover various native languages relevant to the analysis.
• A confirmation email from both the subgroup leader and the applicant’s supervisor is mandatory. The supervisor’s confirmation must verify the applicant’s eligibility and field of work, and the subgroup leader’s confirmation will finalize the approval.
• Relevance to the MedPlant4Vet MoU and COST Excellence and Inclusiveness Policy.
• Applicant’s background and contributions to the Action.
• Results will be communicated shortly after the deadline.

Reporting and Reimbursement

A report (Annex 3) must be submitted via e-COST within 10 days after completion. A short report version of the grantees’ of their experience to be published in the newsletter and to contribute with content (posts, pictures, short videos…) for the Action social media and Website (Annex 4).

The grant is paid after approval of the final report by the Grant Awarding Coordinator and Grant Holder.

Important Dates

Deadline for applications: July 31th, 2025

Need Help?

Grant Awarding Coordinators: 

Begum Yurdakok Dikmen (byurdakok(at)yahoo.com)
Juliana Trifkovic (julijana.trifkovic(at)pof.ues.rs.ba)

Administrative matters:

Theresa Schlittenlacher (theresa.schlittenlacher(at)fibl.org)
Maura Ellenberger (maura.ellenberger(at)fibl.org)

Concerning the Action Chair:

Theresa Schlittenlacher (theresa.schlittenlacher(at)fibl.org)
Marta Mendel (marta_mendel(at)sggw.edu.pl)

General matters: 

Michael Walkenhorst (michael.walkenhorst(at)fibl.org)

For scientific alignment: 

Contact the Working Group Leader