Call Open: Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grants (YRICG)

Submit a Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grants

The YRICG is designed to support young researchers (under 40 years old) affiliated in a COST Full or Cooperating Member country to attend and present their work (oral or poster) at prestigious international conferences not organized by the COST Action, thereby increasing the visibility of the MedPlant4Vet network and enhancing career development.

The activity must be in line with the general COST Action CA22109 goals and objectives (www.cost.eu/actions/CA22109/) and must take place before 30th of September 2025.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

• be under 40 years of age at the time of application,
• be affiliated with an institution located in a COST Full or Cooperating Member country,
• be engaged in an official capacity in the MedPlant4Vet Action (e.g., WG member),
• submit proof of acceptance to present (oral or poster) at an international conference,
• submit an abstract clearly linked to the MedPlant4Vet objectives.

Application Procedure

All applications must be submitted via the e-COST system (https://e-services.cost.eu/) and include:

• completed YRICG Application Template (YRICG Application Template_Annex1),
• abstract of the accepted presentation (oral or poster),
• acceptance or invitation letter from the conference organizers,
• CV.

Grant Amount

• The maximum grant amount is defined by the Action's Work and Budget Plan. According to the COST Annotated Rules for COST Actions, each Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grant provides a maximum financial contribution of EUR 2.000 per grantee.
• It covers travel, accommodation, registration fees, and subsistence.
• Payments are made after the activity, upon approval of the submitted report and documents.

A YRIG is a fixed contribution based on the requested budget that should reflect the duration and location of the YRIG. The budget is evaluated by the Grant Awarding Coordinator and can be reduced by decision of the Core Group. The grant for face-to-face conferences is for travelling, accommodation and subsistence expenses, registration fee, printing of scientific poster and overall effort. It does not necessarily cover all such expenses.

Be aware of the brand guidelines for dissemination activities funded by COST. Please check Cost Action Visual Identity Guidelines: www.cost.eu/about/visual-identity/. In that case, the COST logo, Horizon Europe logo and acknowledgment are required in the final slide of presentation made by you. Your grant might be rejected if your material does not reach the COST standards.

Timeline

Applications should be submitted at least 30 days before the conference start date.
Rolling Deadline: Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted over the grant period.

Evaluation Criteria

• relevance to MedPlant4Vet Action objectives,
• scientific quality of the abstract,
• potential impact on the applicant’s career development,
• other criteria include early career, gender balance and geographical inclusiveness,
• the applicant engages to share results of the activities with the relevant working groups (also via presentations on working groups if requested by the working group leader),
• the application of the “Rules and Principles for COST activities” by the applicant.

All applications will be reviewed and approved by the Grant Awarding Coordinator and the Grant Holder Manager on behalf of the Action’s Management Committee.

After the Conference

Grantees must submit within 30 days after the conference:

• Completed YRICG Report Template (Annex 2),
• Certificate of attendance,
• Conference program or book of abstracts,
• Copy of the presented poster or slides,
• A 200 words (publishable) text for the MedPlant4Vet newsletters and social media.

All requested documents must be uploaded in e-COST. Please note that failure to submit the scientific report and annexes on time will effectively cancel the grant.

Any additional documents required by the Action. 

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)

Travel expenses and general matters: 

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

For scientific alignment: 

Contact the Working Group Leader