Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)
What is an STSM?
Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) are institutional exchange visits between researchers involved in a COST Action, allowing scientists to visit an institution or laboratory in another COST member state (IPC and NNC in future rounds).
The aim of STSMs is to foster collaboration and share new techniques that may not be available in a participant’s home institution or laboratory.
STSMs in DAMOCLES
DAMOCLES will provide STSM grants to support exchange knowledge within and between the different Working Groups. DAMOCLES has funding for approximately 15 STSMs per year.
The following DAMOCLES STSM criteria apply:
- Must adhere to the DAMOCLES mission statement and the objectives of at least one Working Group
- Must be able to demonstrate why a STSM is the best option for collaboration
- Must have a demonstrable output or deliverable (e.g. a paper)
The DAMOCLES Cost Action is not currently accepting STSM applications.
We may reopen applications again for a final round in mid/late Jan 2023 if funding allows. However, if we do, please be aware that there will be a very short application window and any STSMs would need to be completed by end of February 2023. We will send out a further communication to the DAMOCLES mailing list in January 2023.
| Title | Home Country | Host Country |
| Visit to Deltares to study coastal flooding | Iceland | Netherlands |
| Analyzing the correlates in compound events between the EM-DAT and Earth System Data Lab databases | Belgium | Germany |
| Evaluation of categories and intensities of (hydro-) meteorological compound events in southern Norway on basis of high‐resolution climate simulations from a single model initial‐condition large ensemble (SMLE) | Germany | Norway |
| Meeting for advancing the WG4 review of the statistical methods for modelling compound events | Austria | France |
| Developing a statistical model based on precipitation and soil moisture to characterize droughts from multiple (meteorological and agricultural) viewpoints | Switzerland | Sweden |
| Meeting for advancing the WG4 review of the statistical methods for modelling compound events | Switzerland | France |
| Detection and Attribuion of Medicanes Climate Change | France | Italy |
| Classification of Compound Events | Portugal | Switzerland |
| Investigation of Climate Change Impact on the Rain on Snow Events | Turkey | Slovenia |
| Hydrodynamic modelling of compound flood drivers in estuaries | Netherlands | UK |
| Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Wildfire Exposure in the Balkan area | Republic of Serbia | Italy |
| Estimating the risk of crop failure in the Iberian Peninsula associated with compound hot and dry extremes | Portugal | Switzerland |
| Multivariate ensemble post-processing to improve forecasts of compound events | Netherlands | Switzerland |
| Compound Hot-Wet Extremes over the Eastern Mediterranean | Netherlands | Sweden |
| Stakeholder engagement in compound event modeling exercises | Germany | Switzerland |
| Concurrent summer droughts and heatwaves over Southeast Brazil: Soil–atmosphere coupling mechanisms using Eulerian vs. Lagrangian Trajectory Models | Portugal | Belgium |
| Stakeholder engagement in compound event modeling exercises | UK | Switzerland |
| Impacts of ocean compound climate events on fish and fisheries | Switzerland | Canada |
| Exploring the asymmetric dependence in a river network | Italy | Switzerland |
| Atmospheric mechanisms triggering concurrent drought and heat wave events in summer over northeastern Brazil | Turkey | Brazil |
| Link impacts from impact data bases to (multivariate) climate anomalies | France | Germany |
| Exploring and modelling temporally compounding with extreme-value and large-deviation theory | Switzerland | France |
| Statistical modelling of compound events of hydrometeorological drivers of extreme precipitation in a climate change context | Spain | Germany |
| Map the impact of compound dry-hot event on water, agriculture, and biome sectors | Germany | Germany |
| Understanding the systemic compound and cascading impacts of droughts | Germany | Netherlands |
| Understanding stakeholder needs within compound events: WG2 workshop preparation and paper | UK | Netherlands |
| How wildfires change in a changing world | Belgium | UK |
| BoARIO-CLIMADA coupling: Integrating BoARIO into CLIMADA to study the indirect economicimpacts of compound extreme weather events | France | Switzerland |
| Combining process-based agricultural modelling with machine learning | Germany | USA |
| Machine learning algorithms for detection of severe convective events in observational andreanalysis datasets | France | Singapore |
| Modeling compound cold and weak-wind events over Europe in a future climate conditioned on large-scale circulation regimes | Norway | Germany |
| Study of atmospheric circulation associated to intense Medicanes to improve their predictability | Spain | Italy |
| Identifying regions prone to flood-drought event pairs by analysing drivers of change in impact | Netherlands | Germany |
| Compound climateevents and fire activity in 2022 in Europe | Portugal | Germany |
| Exploring the international dimensions of compound events across the UK and the Republic of Ireland | UK | Ireland |
| Extreme droughts and their impact on agriculture (on the example of Bulgaria and Austria) | Bulgaria | Austria |
STSMs can be performed in any COST Member/Cooperating Member or Near-Neighbour Country joining the Action.
STSMs must have a minimum duration of 5 calendar days and need to be carried out in their entirety within a single Grant Period.
STSM grants are available through COST to support exchange knowledge.
STSM grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to undertaking a given mission. A STSM grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the Grantee. The calculation of the financial contribution for each STSM must respect the following criteria:
- Up to a maximum of EUR 3,500 in total can be afforded to each applicant
- Up to a maximum of EUR 160 per day can be afforded for accommodation and meal expenses
- Up to a maximum of EUR 300 can be affored for travel costs
STSM applicants must be engaged in an official research programme as a PhD student or postdoctoral fellow, or can be employed by, or affiliated to, an institution, organisation or legal entity which has within its remit a clear association with performing research related to DAMOCLES.
The institutions / organisation or legal entity where applicants pursue their main strand of research are considered as Home Institutions (the Host Institution is the institution / organisation that will host the successful applicant).
Applications for STSM grants are online at e-COST: https://e-services.cost.eu/stsm
Application process:
- Applicant applies through the e-COST portal using on the online application form. Applicants will also need to upload their CV, a Letter of Support from the Home Institution, and a Written Agreement from the Host Institution that the STSM applicant can perform the activities detailed in the STSM work plan within the agreed dates
- The STSM coordinator undertakes an initial evaluation of the applications
- All applications are then reviewed by the Core Group and approves / rejects and agrees budget for approved STSMs
- The STSM coordinator approves / rejects the applications in e-COST (The STSM coordinator also evaluates and approves / rejects the scientific report after the mission)
Additional Information
Online applications at e-COST: https://e-services.cost.eu/stsm
STSM user guide: https://www.cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/STSM-userguide.pdf
COST vademecum: https://www.cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Vademecum-V9-28-April-20212-1.pdf
Contact Information
Dr. Chris White – University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Email: chris.white@strath.ac.uk
Phone: +44 141 548 4366