Funding research networking through COST Actions can translate in many diverse benefits for researchers and for the R&I sector more broadly. These benefits include amongst others:
Scientific
- enabling researchers to work on emerging scientific topics
- facilitating access to research infrastructures (through short-term scientific missions)
- fostering opportunities for training
- maximising the production of new knowledge and breakthrough discoveries
Networking
- creating open spaces for the free circulation of researchers and ideas
- helping advancing knowledge and innovation (by building an internal market for researchers and innovators)
- increasing interconnectedness with the whole research community across countries, generations, and gender in Europe and beyond
- promoting global research cooperation and widening access to excellence
Mobility, visibility
- stimulating international mobility and visibility
- generating short-term mobility with long-term impact
Career opportunities
- acting as incentive for the promotion of career development at European level
- boosting careers of young researchers
Financial support
- allowing a low-entry barrier and successful pathways towards other cooperation schemes in the ERA
The Value of Networking
Participation in COST Actions has led to significant results and follow-up in terms of the number of proposals submitted for collaborative research in Framework Programmes, with a success rate which more than triple the average success rates for these programmes (37% success rate). By funding networking, COST acts therefore as a pre-portal for further research and innovation funding such as the European Framework Programme for research and technological development.
