Virtual Mobility Grants: Call Open until 10 July 2026

Background

WG3 aims to collect, analyse and harmonise historical and ethnoveterinary information regarding the use of medicinal plants in animal health care across Europe. Historical veterinary textbooks represent a valuable source of information on traditional uses, preparations, indications, target species and dosage regimens of medicinal plants.
As part of the ongoing activities of WG3, this call specifically supports the analysis of historical Greek veterinary textbooks and other relevant Greek-language sources to contribute to the MedPlants4Vet inventory and database of traditional veterinary medicinal plant use in Europe.

Objectives

The selected applicant will contribute to:

• Identification and review of historical Greek veterinary textbooks, manuals and pharmacopeias relevant to medicinal plant use in animals;
• Extraction and compilation of information regarding medicinal plant species, preparations, indications, target animal species, routes of administration and dosage recommendations;
• Translation and harmonisation of relevant information into English where necessary;
• Integration of the collected data into the WG3 database and activities related to the preparation of future publications and deliverables.

Expected Deliverables

The grantee is expected to provide:

1. A short report summarising the analysed sources and methodology used;
2. A structured dataset containing extracted information from the reviewed Greek sources;
3. Contribution to WG3 meetings and discussions related to historical and ethnoveterinary data collection;
4. Support for ongoing WG3 publications and outputs where appropriate.

Who Can Apply?

Applicants must:

• Active members of the MedPlants4Vet WG3-HTB subgroup
• Able to demonstrate relevant methodological experience aligned with the call objectives.
• 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.

Application Requirements

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

• Virtual Mobility Grant Application (Annex 1)
• CV (maximum 2 pages, PDF)
• For Prioritized WG3 activity applicants:
  • A letter of commitment from the home institution signed by the home supervisor indicating the commitment to executing the expected plan for WG3 (Annex 2).
  • Mail of confirmation from the WG 3 leader (to be attached as pdf) upon the agreement with the home institution supervisor
    • WG3 European tradition of the use of medicinal plants to control animal diseases- Leader- Álvaro Fdez-Blanco Barreto (alvaro@sanasvet.es)
• A valid student ID or a researcher confirmation document from the employed authority; verifying the applicant's field of work is related to the areas are relevant to the virtual mobility tasks.

Grant Amount and Budget Framework

• Each Virtual Mobility Grant awarded under this call provides a fixed contribution of €500 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 02.07.2026-15.07.2026.
  • Call opens: 01 July 2026
  • Call closes: 10 July 2026
  • Virtual Mobility period ends: 17 July 2026
• 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 WG3 leadership, in coordination with the Grant Awarding Coordinator, based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to WG3 objectives, in particular the contribution to data extraction and peer-checking for the WG3 HTB manuscript country (Greece) focus.
• Demonstrated experience with Greek historical sources, and structured data handling.
• Ability to perform data validation and quality control in line with WG3 methodology.
• Feasibility of the proposed work within the defined Virtual Mobility period. A proposal for the delivery of results in the near future will be particularly valued.
• Supervisor approval and applicant availability during the VM period.

Priority may be given to applicants whose expertise directly addresses urgent WG3 manuscript needs.

Reporting and Reimbursement

A report (Annex 3) must be submitted via e-COST within 2 days after completion, while the databases collected and reviewed by the supervisor in Excel format must be sent as soon as possible and no later than the last day of the scholarship, 15th July. 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 etc) 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

• Call opens: July 01h, 2026
• Deadline for applications: July 10th, 2026
• Deadline for completion and dataset: July 15th, 2026
• Deadline for final report VM (Annex 3; Annex 4): July 17th, 2026

Need Help?

Grant Awarding Coordinators

Begum Yurdakok Dikmen (byurdakok(at)yahoo.com)
Ivona Foitova (foitova(at)sci.muni.cz)

Administrative and general matters

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)

Concernig the VM scientific matters/alignment

Contact the Working Group Leader Alvaro Fernández-Blanco Barreto (alvaro(at)sanasvet.es)