Www.cost.esf.org European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides

www.cost.esf.org

European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research

COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme

ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract

ESSEM

COST Office News and Managing the end of Your COST Action up to March 2009

Presented by Dr Lucia ForziScience Officer Natural Sciences

On behalf ofDr Carine Petit

ESSEM Science OfficerBrussels, May 2008



ESSEM

Outline

• News from the COST Office

• News from ESSEM

• Status of the Action

• Final evaluation

• New rules on Publications

• New procedure for Non-COST Countries

• To be done at this MC meeting



ESSEM

News from the COST Office (1/3)

• CSO approved 25 new COST Actions in November 2007

• Open Call of September 30 2007:

– 4 ESSEM full proposals were successful over 25

– Final approval by the CSO (18 June 2008)

• Open Call of March 28, 2008

– Trans-Domain Proposal (TDP)

– TDP will be examined by a Standing Assessment Body

– 31 ESSEM and 65 TD pre-proposals over 385

• Next Collecting Date: September 26, 2008

• New rules for publications, for Non-COST Country applications and new measures for Early Stage Researchers



ESSEM


• Early Stage Researchers (i.e. PhD + <10 years)– Open Call participation and WG leading

– Increased duration of STSMs beyond 3 months

– 3 ESSEM Conference Grants per year of 3000 € for attending International Conference (abstract for an oral presentation must be accepted)

– More Training schools

– At least once a year, an Action workshop should foster the participation of ESR

• Actions are encouraged – To meet in COST premises, Brussels

– To organize training schools

– To conform to their timetable. Prolongation/Extension will be consider only

without additional budget and on basis of strong scientific justification



ESSEM


• The preparation of the web application for the COST Grant System (CGS) is still under development

• New annual contract with EC was signed end of March

• Your budget was refunded to cover activities until June 2009 to ensure a smooth transition to the CGS

• When the migration will start, two ESSEM Actions will migrate per month

• A new “one-year” budget will be allocated to the migrating Actions when the CGS contract will be prepared (e.g. from July 2008 to July 2009)

• As you will end in March 2009, I do hope that you will escape it !



ESSEM

News from ESSEM

• ESSEM Monitoring Event: 25-26 June 2008, Helsinki

• All the Actions Chairs (presentation of 20 minutes) will be invited as well as Rapporteurs (10 minutes for reporting + discussion)

• The ESSEM Chair, Vice-Chair and SO will meet the Actions Chairs for an informal meeting and open discussions

• Annual Progress Report is expected for you by 23 May 2008

• If less than 4 STSMs, justification needed

• New reporting item: non-COST participations’ contributions

– Was there any substantial non-COST contribution in 2007?

– What are the mutual benefits of those contributions?

– Not only factual but also qualitative reporting



ESSEM

News from ESSEM

• LAST DC meeting (10-11 March): – The Vice-Chair, Mr John Ingram, resigned

– A rotation between the Chair and the Vice-Chair was expected for June 2008 according to the decision of the first DC meeting.

– No candidature for chairing the domain was received

– The Chair, Prof. Sylvain Joffre, was elected ESSEM Chair until 2010

– Dr Ipek Erzi from Turkey was elected Vice-Chair of the Domain

• Open Call of March 2007 led to 2 new ESSEM Actions:– ES0701 Improved constraints on models of glacial isostatic adjustment (29

April 2008)

– ES0702 EG-CLIMET European Ground-based observations of essential variables for CLImate and operational METeorology (14-15 May 2008)



ESSEM

News from ESSEM

• Open Call of September 2007 will probably lead to 4 new ESSEM Actions:

– OC-2007-2-1816: Developing space weather products and services in Europe

– OC-2007-2-1528: The ocean chemistry of bioactive trace elements and paleoclimate proxies

– OC-2007-2-1603: Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in atmospheric research

– OC-2007-2-1832: Advancing the integrated monitoring of trace gas exchange between biosphere and atmosphere



ESSEM

COST Action 732: Quality Assurance and Improvement of Micro-Scale Meteorological

Models

• End Date 28/03/2009• Signatories to MoU 21 COST countries + Israel• Rapporteur Mr Dick Blaauboer

• Budget 2007-2008 85 000 €

• Final Event• Final Report• Final Evaluation



ESSEM

COST 732: 2 June 2007 – 31 May 2008 and beyond

Budget : 85 000 € => 356 € not committed yet; Well done !

• MC9+WGs - Lecce (20 p.) 18 449 € + 2 400 € (paid)• WG - Vienna (15 p.) 10 207 € + 1 500 € (paid)• MC10+WGs - Prague (23 p.) 15 485 € + 2 000 € (paid)• MC11 - Thessaloniki (42 p.) 26 880 € + 2 990 € (approved)• 3 STSMs 2 732 € (approved)• GASG 2 000 € (paid)

TOTAL OF EXPENSES 84 644 €



ESSEM

COST 732: 2 June 2007 – 31 May 2008 and beyond

Next Budget

• Your work plan and budget plan can be prepared until March 2009 (MC+WG meetings, STSMs, GASG, Final event, Additional

Publication (?)) • Preliminary budget 1 June 2008 – 28 March 2009: 102 000 €

• The budget can be used within 3 months after the end for expenses related to the final event only. The final event can be organised between March and June 2009

• The Publication of the Final Extended Scientific Report will be paid by the general COST budget



ESSEM

• Evaluation Panel (EP) will be appointed by the COST Office 6 months before the end of the Action:

- DC Rapporteur: Mr Dick Blaauboer

- One or two experts (proposed by Dick Blaauboer to the Action Chair and submitted to the approval of the DC)

- Science Officer as moderator/observer• Evaluation Report must be submitted by EP within 3 months after

the end of the Action (end of June 2009)• It will be probably presented in September 2009 at the ESSEM DC

meeting by the DC Rapporteur assisted by one of the experts• The Action Chair will be invited to this DC meeting, but is free to

attend or not

Who will evaluate the Action?

What is the timeframe?



ESSEM

• What will be evaluated? Achievements of the objectives of the MoU and of the deliverables on basis of:

Final Management report (SO): delivered by 30 April 2009 (within one month of the end of the Action)

Final Scientific Report (Action): delivered by 30 April 2009; last updated version of the Yearly Progress Report covering the entire period of the Action

Extended scientific report – Final Publication (Action): ideally delivered by end of February 2009 (first draft) and by May 2009 (final draft); this publication can be paid by COST on the Action’s demand

Website Deliverables Dissemination and Publications (in peer-reviewed journals, financed by

the Action and by COST) End users of the final results (if applicable)

What does the Evaluation consist of? (1/2)



ESSEM

• The template and criteria of the final evaluation are available in the guidelines for assessment, monitoring, evaluation of an Action (Annex F)

• Questionnaire drafted by the EP will be submitted to the Chair, Vice-Chair and the WG Leaders to clarify some unclear points

• Participation of the EP in the final Event of the Action + a 1- or 2-days meeting of the EP with the Chair to finalize the Final Evaluation Report (if necessary)

• Draft of the Final Evaluation Report by the EP (June 2009)

• Final Statement of DC on the quality of the Action will be published on the COST website in autumn 2009, as well as the Final Evaluation Report and the Extended Scientific Report.

What does the Final Evaluation consist of? (2/2)



ESSEM

• The COST Office will finance the costs of final publication

• You will have to support the costs of any additional publication (special issue, proceedings)

Steps to be followed:

1) MC decision needed for each publication with budget dedicated - Official request from Chair to SO with MC decision

2) Validation of request by COST PR Manager and COST reference number

3) Notification by SO to Chair and invitation to choose a publisher- OPOCE or other Publisher

- If Private Publisher: 2 offers in case of price exceeding 3000 € (excl. VAT); COST needs 5 copies

- Chair send offer(s) to SO, with strong justification if the most expensive solution is requested

Useful to know about Publications (1/2)



ESSEM

Steps to be followed:

4) Preparation of documents and distribution list (logos, etc.)

5) Confirmation of order by SO with a purchase order

6) Print release and distribution

7) Payment

Please refer to the official document “Pubblications” which is included in the COST Vademecum:

http://www.cost.esf.org/index.php?id=38

Useful to know about Publications (2/2)



ESSEM

• New template for application of non-COST Countries

• A better description of mutual benefits is requested and of the contribution of the non-COST Institution in the Working Groups

• A motivation letter must be submitted by the non-COST Institution to the Chair and the Science Officer

• The application must be approved by:• Management Committee

• ESSEM Domain Committee

• COST JAF Committee

Useful to know about non-COST Countries



ESSEM

At this MC meeting

• Clear MC decisions for last activities on 2008-2009 budget

• Prepare and communicate to the SO your work plan and budget plan from June 2008 to March 2009 by end of June 2008

• Start the organisation of the Extended Scientific Report and of the Final Event

• Continuous update of the website



ESSEM

At this MC meeting

• Sign the Attendance List (each day!)• Complete and sign your Travel Reimbursement Form and

submit it, together with receipts, to the local organizer or to the Chair

• Send additional receipts by scan/email or fax until 19 May 2008• Save energy and money by using public transportation instead

of taxis (prepare carefully your travels)! Max 40 € per participant and per meeting will be reimburse for taxi. Thanks for the planet!

International Year of Planet Earth (2007-2009)http://yearofplanetearth.org/index.html



ESSEM

Mrs Chandrasa SjamsudinAdministrative Officer

[email protected]

Dr Lucia ForziScience Officer Natural Sciences Cluster

[email protected]

Dr Carine PetitScience Officer - ESSEM

[email protected]: 32-2-533-3831

ESSEM team

Documents

Www.cost.esf.org European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme ESF provides