Call for Virtual Mobility Grants

The COST Association has developed Virtual Mobility (VM) Grants to strengthen the existing networks by allowing individual participants to foster collaboration, to exchange knowledge, to learn new techniques, etc. The successful applicants will be selected by the Management Committee to perform activities that do not necessarily require in-person presence. These activities may include surveys, questionnaires or preparation of protocols, virtual mentoring of activities that can generate capacity, build new skills, etc.

For more information about these VM Grants, please read the Annotated Rules for COST Actions and the FAQ document.

Virtual Networking Support Manager

As a result of a previous call, the elected VNS Manager is Francisco Florez-Revuelta (francisco.florez@ua.es). You should contact him for any aspect related to this call.

GoodBrother’s Strategy for Virtual Mobility Grants

Virtual Mobility Grants must support the achievement of the main outcomes and milestones of the Action. In particular, they should contribute to the finalisation of the planned deliverables or provide a complement to them. Additionally, they should serve to facilitate different Action objectives, as:

  • Objective 1. Promote the sustained collaboration between and across multiple disciplines.
  • Objective 2. Support a multidisciplinary, multi-cultural, multi-societal, gender- and age-based analysis of user acceptance.
  • Objective 4. Disseminate and communicate privacy-aware AAL technologies among the stakeholders.
  • Objective 9. Support the future leadership of Early Career Investigators (ECIs).
  • Objective 10. Support the research in Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs) and Near-Neighbour Countries (NNCs).

Similarly to the previous call in 2021, the Core Group has considered that the best approach is concentrating this year’s efforts on VM grants focussed on the creation of an online event (GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak) that would take place by the end of the 2nd Grant Period, in mid-October.

GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak

The programme of GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak must consider the diversity of areas covered in GoodBrother, the objectives of the Working Groups, and the differences among members expertise (i.e., from experienced researchers to early-career investigators). Although the format is flexible, it is expected that it puts together different virtual activities (i.e. invited talks, MOOCs, demonstrations, and short courses), which will be funded through the four VM grants.

These virtual activities should support a better mutual understanding between experts from the different disciplines involved in GoodBrother. Participants with technological background (mainly in WG2, WG3 and WG4) should benefit from specific training on legal and ethical aspects associated to video- and audio-based AAL technologies. On the other hand, participants in WG1 should benefit from a better understanding on the latest video and audio technologies and the potential of state-of-the-art machine learning methods.

These activities should strengthen the research in ITCs and NNCs by providing virtual means for training, collaboration, and dissemination, which could complement those already offered by the Action. These VNTs could also initiate an online mentorship programme, so that experienced researchers, could advise and guide researchers in ITCs and NNCs and, in consequence, advance research and innovation in AAL solutions in those countries.

These activities might aim at facilitating public engagement to increase user awareness and gather relevant input. For instance, these VNTs might provide a means to gather valuable input regarding different cultural and societal perception of privacy across not only Europe but also worldwide. Here, it is very relevant the participation of contributors from different COST countries as well as NNCs and IPCs. These VNTs could involve end-user organisations in different countries. This activity could support the development of an intercultural acceptance cartography of audio- and video-based AAL solutions, which would be relevant for different stakeholders.

The following list includes (but not limited to) some examples of activities that could be part of GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak and funded through the VM Grants:

  • Seminar on legal aspects linked to the use of video- and audio-based AAL solutions
  • Seminar on ethical aspects linked to the use of video- and audio-based AAL solutions
  • Seminar on social aspects linked to the use of video- and audio-based AAL solutions
  • Survey on users’ acceptance of these technologies
  • Seminar on privacy-preserving methods
  • Short course on privacy preservation
  • Short course on video-based AAL applications
  • Short course on audio-based AAL applications
  • Online repository of relevant data sets
  • Demonstrations of different video and audio technologies
  • Demonstrations of privacy-preserving techniques
  • Recorded interviews with different experts about any of the topics covered by GoodBrother
  • Interviews to end-user organisations in different parts of the world regarding the use of video and audio monitoring for AAL, in order to learn cultural differences
  • Interviews to policy makers
  • Launching of an online mentoring programme

The selected activities will be scheduled during October. They will be previously recorded and a shared discussion will be facilitated after each one of them. All the created resources will be made available on the GoodBrother website so that other researchers could also benefit from them. This would provide an increase visibility to the Action and its participants.

The outcomes of the Virtual Mobility Grants funded in the 1st call (2021) can be accessed at the GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak webpage.

Call for Virtual Mobility Grants

Eligibility

Researcher and Innovators with appropriate affiliation as described in the Annotated Rules for COST Actions (section 4.1.1.1.1. AFFILIATION).

Additionally: Priority will be given to active Working Group members whose application is closely related to the goals and deliverables of the Action. For more information please see the GoodBrother Memorandum of Understanding.

Number of grants

Four

Grant amount

A financial contribution for each Virtual Mobility Grant of up to EUR 1,500 will be awarded. The grant does not necessarily cover all expenses related to undertaking the virtual networking coordination role.

Deadline

The call will be open in continuum until all the grants are awarded, as long as sufficient time is ensured for a quality delivery.

Duration

The activity must be finalised by mid-October, in which GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak will take place.

Application procedure

Please use the online form available via your e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu, together with the appropriate forms and supporting documents:

  • Application form (template available on e-COST) describing: Main objective, description of the work to be carried out by the applicant, plan for participation, expected outcomes and description of the contribution to the Action MoU objectives;
  • CV of the applicant
  • Optional: Other relevant documents that support the application (e.g. recommendation letter, etc.)

The proposal must align with the objectives of GoodBrother. Additional information can be found in the Annotated Rules for COST actions and other documents provided by COST. These documents can be downloaded from here. For more information please visit the GoodBrother Website and consult the GoodBrother Memorandum of Understanding. 

Evaluation and selection of applicants

The applications will be evaluated within one week by GoodBrother’s Core Group assisted by the VNS Manager.

All the applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Alignment of the proposal with the COST and Action aims and objectives
  • Alignment with the objectives and idea of GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak
  • Complementarity with the current contents of GoodBrother’s OnlineSpeak
  • Appropriate consideration of the inclusiveness Policy, especially towards the support of researchers in ITCs and NNCs.
  • In case of equally ranked applications underrepresented persons, Young Researchers and applicants from ITC will be considered first