COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is the longest-running European framework supporting trans-national cooperation among researchers, engineers and scholars across Europe.

The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) is able to provide seed funding for the travel costs of South African researchers traveling to Europe.

The visit must contribute or enhance South Africa’s Science & Technology knowledgebase and human capital. The applicant should have been accepted by the COST Action Chair to be part of the projects before applying to DSI for funding to attend the COST Action activities.The DSI will approve funding support based on travel supporting documents submitted by the applicants in line with Government polices. The funds to support travel costs will be transferred to the institution of the applicant to be used for COST Action activities.

Applicants will be required to report to the DSI on each activity strictly 30 days upon its execution.

South African applicants are requested to contact the DSI regarding any queries related to the DSI/ESASTAP seed funding support and not the COST secretariat. The following email can be used: contact@esastap.org.za

Applications must be submitted to costapplications@esastap.org.za for the attention of Ntombi Mchuba/ Tugela Matubatuba

Kindly note, DSI will now need to enter into contracts with the applicant’s institution for all our funding instruments established to support SA’s participation in the European Union funded programmes. As a result, it may take up to a month to get a response and receive a contract from us. It is important for applicants to submit applications two months before the planned activity to have enough time to process and arrange payment.