COST
COST – European Cooperation in Science and Technology – is the European intergovernmental framework for the coordination of national or regional funded research.
Your NCP contact for this programme
Man Hei To
manhei.to@fwo.be
+32 2 550 15 55
About this programme
COST – European Cooperation in Science and Technology – is the European intergovernmental framework for the coordination of national or regional funded research.
COST plays an important role in the development of the European research area. COST's mission is to strengthen Europe in scientific and technological research through the support of European cooperation and interaction between European researchers.
COST offers financing for the coordination of pan-European research networks (COST actions). The actual research is financed via other (national or regional) channels.
The main features of COST are:
- bottom-up approach: European researchers determine themselves the idea and topic of a COST action;
- inclusiveness and equal access: participation is open to all COST member states;
- flexible structure: simple implementation and management of networking initiatives;
- commitment to participate in capacity building by linking up high quality scientific networks across Europe and worldwide;
- particular attention to offering networking opportunities to young researchers;
- increasing the impact of research on policy makers, regulatory authorities and national policy makers as well as the private sector.
COST is financed with specific budget lines from the EU Framework Programmes. At present, COST supports some 300 ongoing actions and reaches out to more than 30,000 researchers across Europe.
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Testimonial
Autoship - a new and durable way of freight transport
Autoship is, as the name suggests, an acronym for autonomous ship. Just like with self-driving cars, the possibilities of an unmanned boat seem endless. It can create more efficient freight transport, around the clock deliveries and these are just a few of the examples. The project has two societal challenges.
At first, De Vlaamse Waterweg was a bit hesitant as their experience with FP7 or Horizon 2020 projects was limited and they had not been very successful up until then. The fact that they were already doing basic research on the topic of autonomous boats, and the administrative help of NCP FLanders helped De Vlaamse waterweg to cross the line and get involved.
