About COST
COST - the acronym for European Cooperation in Science and Technology - is the oldest
and widest European intergovernmental network for cooperation in research. Established
by the Ministerial Conference in November 1971, COST is presently used by the scientific
communities of 36 European countries to cooperate in common research projects sup-
ported by national funds. The funds provided by COST - less than 1% of the total value
of the projects - support the COST cooperation networks (COST Actions) through which,
with EUR 30 million per year, more than 30,000 European scientists are involved in re-
search having a total value which exceeds EUR 2 billion per year. This is the financial
worth of the European added value which COST achieves. A “bottom up approach” (the
initiative of launching a COST Action comes from the European scientists themselves), “à
la carte participation” (only countries interested in the Action participate), “equality of
access” (participation is open also to the scientific communities of countries not belong-
ing to the European Union) and “flexible structure” (easy implementation and light man-
agement of the research initiatives) are the main characteristics of COST. As precursor of
advanced multidisciplinary research COST has a very important role for the realisation
of the European Research Area (ERA) anticipating and complementing the activities of
the Framework Programmes, constituting a “bridge” towards the scientific communities
of emerging countries, increasing the mobility of researchers across Europe and foster-
ing the establishment of “Networks of Excellence” in many key scientific domains such
as: Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences; Food and Agriculture; Forests, their Products
and Services; Materials, Physical and Nanosciences; Chemistry and Molecular Sciences
and Technologies; Earth System Science and Environmental Management; Information
and Communication Technologies; Transport and Urban Development; Individuals, So-
cieties, Cultures and Health. It covers basic and more applied research and also addresses
issues of pre-normative nature or of societal importance.
COST Website:
COST is supported by the EU RTD
Framework Programme
