In context of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), drawing budget from Horizon 2020, the COST Association is facing a potential 7% budget cut for operating the COST Framework. Not only would this impact the future number of COST Actions to be funded but most likely lower the funds of all ongoing COST Actions.
Given COST great leverage and high impact on the European Research and Innovation capacities, the Committee of Senior Officials has therefore made a statement pleading for a conservation of COST budget. This statement, published yesterday, has been shared with the European Commission (see attached).
Moreover, we have decided to launch an online petition on the COST website where Actions’ participants and COST stakeholders and friends can show their support.
If you believe that the COST should have stable and sufficient budgets to allow European researchers, engineers and scholars to connect and collaborate, please sign our online petition “Engaging for COST”: https://forms.cost.eu/petition
You will find the related News release on http://www.cost.eu/media/newsroom/governing-board-alarmed-diminishing-budget-EFSI
Please help us to keep the COST budget by distributing this mail to all your Actions’ participants (management committee, working groups, etc.)
