Short-Term Scientific Mission are visits of a researcher or innovator to a host organization located in a different country than the country of affiliation (for Affiliation, see Article 4.1.1.1.1 on Annotated Rules for COST Actions document) for specific work to be carried out and for a determined period of time. STSM are valuable i) for the STSM Grantee, that has the chance to receive funding for implementing a project with an international team, obtaining new knowledge or access to equipment or techniques not available in the home institution; ii) for the STSM Host that can receive an international partner in their institution and extend or create a long lasting collaboration. STSM support specific / general topic that can help achieving the Action MoU objectives and deliverables (research coordination). A STSM should specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of the COST Action, helping to achieve the Action MoU objectives and deliverables.

The Grant applicant(s) are Action participants with a primary affiliation (see Article 4.1.1.1.1 on Annotated Rules for COST Actions) to a legal entity located in a COST Full or Cooperating Member country, a COST Near Neighbour Country or a European RTD Organisation.

Other important criteria for the STSM mobility, under the scopes of NECTAR COST Action are:

In the case of the 8^th Call, the relevant dates are as follows: Within 30 days from the end date of the STSM (or 15 days after the end of the Grant Period, whichever date comes first),
must be uploaded on the e-COST portal.
Also within 30 days from the end date of the STSM, (or 15 days after the end of the Grant Period, whichever date comes first),

The total budget for STSM within this Call is EUR 15000 and the minimum number of STSM grants that will be funded is ten (10). The maximum budget granted to each approved STSM is EUR 1500 for a maximum of 30 calendar days including travel. The amount granted to each individual STSM will be determined during the evaluation process by STSM Coordinator and may be subject to negotiation with the applicant(s) before approval.

An STSM Grant is a fixed financial contribution which takes into consideration the budget request of the applicant and the outcome of the evaluation of the STSM application. Please note that STSM Grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to undertaking a given mission, being only a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the Grantee. Applicants are encouraged to evaluate their budget request based on a high benefit/cost ratio and justify it based on the perceived cost of living in the host country/city.

Grants are paid by the Grant Holder Institution after the completion of the activity and approval of all required report/documentation. However, STSMs grantees may request up to 50% pre-payment of the approved grant. This amount is subject to availability of funds and approval by the Grant Holder Institution. The request of pre-payment shall be submitted to the Grant Holder Manager (Dr Giuseppa Scarfi, gscarfi@unime.it) and the Grant Awarding Coordinator (Prof. Matteo Tegoni, matteo.tegoni@unipr.it).

The application procedure is legally bound to the Rules for COST Actions. Eligible STSM applicants must submit their STSM applications online by logging into e-COST and go to https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants and click on “Apply for a grant”. Then click on “Continue” on “Short-Term Scientific Mission grant”, to encode a new application. Then you just need to fill the online form with the following information:

The following information is needed on the application form:
After “Save Draft” and you reach the “Supporting documents” page. Here you need to mention the title of the file you will submit, the type and upload the file.
You should submit: In the Application form field please briefly address the following points: Applicants are requested to present a Working plan reasonably feasible and coherent with the time slot reported in the application.

After uploading all the requested documents, the applicant should click on “Submit”, a new window will appear and clicking on “Options”, please “download PDF”. After confirm submission by clicking on “✓Submit”, each applicant is required to send a copy of the downloaded application form and all the other uploaded documents (merged in one single PDF file) to the Grant Awarding Coordinator (Prof. Matteo Tegoni, matteo.tegoni@unipr.it) and to the Action Vice-Chair (Dr. Sofia Gama, sofia.gama@uwb.edu.pl) at latest on December 20th, 2022 (deadline for application). The email must have “STSM 8 CA18202 Application” as the subject line.

The selection of applicants is based on the scientific scope of the STSM application which must be coherent with the overall objectives of the Action. The STSM Committee will select the successful applications.

The STSM Committee is composed of the STSM Coordinator (Prof. Matteo Tegoni, matteo.tegoni@unipr.it), Prof. Erika Ferrari (erika.ferrari@unimore.it), and Prof. Stefan Stürup (stefan.sturup@sund.ku.dk).

In case of conflict of interest (i.e. applicant belonging to a commissioner’s research group), the member that is constrained in his duties will be substituted by the Action Chair or the Vice-Chair.

The STSM Committee will perform the scientific assessment of the applications considering the NECTAR Action scope and objectives, as well as the potential for enhancement of the research interaction between the involved parts, measured by the impact of the exchange expected by the applicants and involved institutions. General criteria for evaluation of STSM proposals are:

General criteria for evaluation of STSM proposals are:
The Grant Awarding Coordinator (or the Action Chair/Vice-Chair, in case of conflict of interest) will inform the Grant Holder of the approved STSMs. The Grant Holder will inform each approved applicant by sending a Grant Letter generated from e-COST. The applicant must return this letter of acceptance with his/her signature.

STSM REPORTING AND PAYMENT
Within 30 days from the end date of the STSM the successful applicant must submit the scientific reports (A) and the dissemination materials (B).

A) SCIENTIFIC REPORTS ON E-COST:
These two documents must be uploaded on e-COST to proceed with the request for payment.

When preparing the scientific report please consider the following:
A copy of the scientific report in PDF format must be sent, by email, to the Grant Awarding Coordinator (Prof. Matteo Tegoni, matteo.tegoni@unipr.it) and the Action Vice-Chair (Dr. Sofia Gama, sofia.gama@uwb.edu.pl). The STSM Coordinator will be responsible for approving the scientific report and informing the Action Chair and the Grant Holder that the STSM has been successfully accomplished.

(Please note that the COST Association can request additional information to substantiate the information contained within the documents submitted by STSM applicants).

B) DISSEMINATION MATERIALS TO SCIENCE COMMUNICATION TEAM: Please remember to present Home and Host institutions and your passion for science! Use pictures showing you at work but also after-work. Do not sound too abstract, avoid scientific jargon, use short sentences. The material is to advertise NECTAR COST research, promote you, and will be shown in social media for public audience.

The materials have to be sent directly to the Science Communication Manager Prof. Elżbieta Gumienna-Kontecka (elzbieta.gumienna-kontecka@chem.uni.wroc.pl) and to WG-5 Leader Dr. Álvaro Martínez-Camarena (alvaro.martinez@uv.es).

Failure to submit the scientific report & dissemination materials, and Host acceptance within 30 days from the end date of the STSM will effectively cancel the Grant.

1^st GRANT PERIOD (1^st November 2019 to 30^th April 2020)

Grantee	Project	Home institution	Host institution
Silvia Gentili	Synthesis of His-containing peptides for oxidation catalysis in presence of Cu	U. Parma, IT	U. Aix-Marseille, FR
Dong Han	Drugs molecules and surfaces/carriers	U.A. Barcelona, ES	U. Udine, IT
Yuliya Toporivska	New efficient chelators for Zr-89 radiometal: design, synthesis and thermodynamic properties	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Ferrara, IT

2^nd GRANT PERIOD (1^st May 2020 to 31^st October 2021)

Grantee	Project	Home institution	Host institution
Lucija Knežević	Studying Vanadium-organic ligand complexation toward better understanding of Vanadium biogeochemical behaviour	I. Ruđer Bošković, HR	U. Paris-Saclay, FR
Tatjana Trtic-Petrovic	Thermodynamic study of the micellization process of functionalized surface-active ionic liquids for extraction of technologically critical elements	Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, RS	U. Ljubljana, SI
Nádia Ribeiro	Evaluation of the DNA affinity of metal complexes derived from 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands	U. Lisboa, PT	U. Pisa, IT
Demetrio Milea	Data analysis and modelling of the acid-base properties of selected metal ions	U. Messina, IT	U. Białystok, PL
Edyta Nalewajko-Sieliwoniuk	Tryptophan metabolite interactions towards Fe(II) and Fe(III) ions: a thermodynamic study in aqueous solution	U. Białystok, PL	U. Messina, IT
Andrzej Mular	68-Ga labelled analogues of desferrioxamine-E for nuclear imaging	U. Wroclaw, PL	M.U. Innsbruck, AT
Sofia Gama	Spectrofluorimetric methods applied to the study of chemical equilibria of 8-Hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxilic acid metal complexes in aqueous solution	U. Białystok, PL	U. Lisboa, PT
Tatsiana Petrasheuskaya	Spectroelectrochemical studies on copper and iron complexes of imidazole-derived thiosemicarbazones	U. Szeged, HU	S.U.T. Bratislava, SK
Rosita Cappai	Synthesis and characterization of Tryptophane metabolites metal complexes	U. Cagliari, IT	F.S.U. Jena, DE
David Fabra Escribano	Analysis of the interaction of metal-thiosemicarbazone complexes with bio substrates	U.A. Madrid, ES	U. Pisa, IT
Michaela Rendosova	Exploring of different techniques and computational programmes for thermodynamic studies of silver(I) and gallium(III) complexes	U. Košice, SK	U. Messina, IT
Żaneta Arciszewska	Caffeic acid interactions towards lanthanides: a thermodynamic study in aqueous solution	U. Białystok, PL	U. Messina, IT
Kinga Garstka	Characteristics of two zinc SBPs - ZnuA and AztC from Paracoccus denitrificans	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Ferrara, IT
Andrea Melchior	Intercalation of platinum complexes with DNA: a theoretical study	U. Udine, IT	U.C. Murcia, ES
Adriana Miller	Exploiting the NMR spectroscopy to understand the coordination chemistry of the Zn(II) and Cu(II) complexes with the chosen antimicrobial peptides	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Siena, IT
Silvia Gentili	Study of copper complexes of His-containing peptides	U. Parma, IT	U. Aix-Marseille, FR
Eugenio Alladio	SpectrApp - an open-source application for the chemometric evaluation of spectroscopic data	U. Torino, IT	U. Białystok, PL

3^rd GRANT PERIOD (1^st November 2021 to 31^st October 2022)

Grantee	Project	Home institution	Host institution
Valentyn Dzyhovskyi	Synthesis of the compounds intended to fit to the flavin mononucleotide riboswitches of Staphylococcus aureus	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Ferrara, IT
Paulina Potok	Exploiting NMR spectroscopy to determine coordination mode of the Zn(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) complexes with metallopeptidases	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Siena, IT
David Fabra Escribano	Solution studies on palladium-thiosemicarbazone complexes and their interaction with albumin and DNA	A.U. Madrid, ES	U. Szeged, HU
Alessandro Nicoli	Predicting the stability of ligand/GPCR complexes with scaled MD simulations: the case of 5-HT2BR and the L209A mutant	T.U. Munich, DE	I.I. Technology, IT
Francesca Binacchi	ITC study of DNA and BSA binding of Ag(I)/Au(I) N-heterocycle biscarbenes and of Pt(II)/Pd(II) phenanthroline derivatives	U. Pisa, IT	U. Burgos, ES
Milan Mad'ar	Speciation of copper(II) complexes with polyamino-polyphosphonate ligands with EPR	Charles U., CZ	U. Burgundy, FR
Milan Vranes	Physicochemical charaterisation of newly synthetized gemini surfactants	U. Novi Sad, CS	U. Ljubljana, SI
Jasmin Suljagic	Synthesis and apllication of Pd(II)-diimine complex in catalysis	U. Tuzla, BA	Goce Delchev U., MK
Tamás Pivarcsik	Synthesis of biologically active half-sandwich ruthenium(II) and rhodium(III) complexes formed with sterane-based hybrids	U. Szeged, HU	U. Ljubljana, SI
Anna Rola	Histidine–rich C–terminal (HRCT) tail of GroEL1 chaperonins as a potential regulator of metal ions concentration in Mycobacteriu	U. Wroclaw, PL	A.U. Barcelona, ES
Elzbieta Gumienna-Kontecka	Ferrous complexes: the bio-chemical state of art	U. Wrocław, PL	U. Messina, IT
Slawomir Potocki	Optimization of isothermal titration calorimetry protocols for the study of 1:1 and 2:1 binding	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Catania, IT
Álvaro Martínez-Camarena	Determination of the β-amyloid disaggregation capacity of PLA-PEG-CON-pytren polymeric nanoparticles	U. València, ES	U. Catania, IT
Andrzej Mular	Investigation of FOXE analogues ability to transport iron into Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Strasbourg, FR
Martina Sanadar	Separation of Europium(III) in Phosphate based Ionic Liquids	U. Udine, IT	U. Masaryk, CZ
Luca Mancini	Shyntesis of new receptor	U. Urbino, IT	U. València, ES
Snezana Papovic	Self-aggregation and ionicity of pharmaceutically active ionic liquids – thermodynamic approach	Novi Sad, RS	U. Ljubljana, SI
Żaneta Arciszewska	Speciation of lanthanides complexes in biological systems	U. Bialystok, PL	CNRS, FR
Aleksandar Cvetkovski	Developing the Thermodynamical data sets	U. Goce Delcev, MK	U. Parma, IT

4^th GRANT PERIOD (1^st November 2022 to 30^th October 2023)

Grantee	Project	Home institution	Host institution
Bartosz Orzeł	Exploring the metal coordination chemistry of Fe(II) bacterial transporters with the use of NMR spectroscopy.	U. Wroclaw, PL	U. Sassari, IT
Eric Kaya	Binding of Fluorescent Peptides and Lipids to Albumin and DNA	CNRS Orleans, FR	U. Pisa, IT
Adriana Kaszuba	Study of the interaction of potential anticancer platinum(II) and ruthenium(II) complexes with DNA	U. Torun, PL	U. Pisa, IT
Matteo Marafante	Thermodynamic study of first-row transition metal ions complexes of biomedical interest	U. Torino, IT	U. Jena, DE
Maria Cracchiolo	Molecular interaction study of platinum(II) anticancer drugs with human serum albumin using molecular docking methods.	U. Udine, IT	U. Cartagena, ES
Anna Baryłka	Thermodynamic parameters of protonation processes of a family of hydroxyquinoline: a calorimetric study	U. Bialystok, PL	U. Catania, IT
Alessandra Fantasia	Synthesis and characterization of poly-hydroxypyridinone based compounds	U. Cagliari, IT	U. Lisbon, PT
Sara Franchi	Determination of protonation constants via NMR spectroscopy	U. Padova, IT	U. Lisbon, PT
Hilda Kovacs	Synthesis of new ligands and metal complexes of 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives	U. Szeged, HU	U. Lisbon, IT
Jasmina Musovic	The effect of ionic liquid and deep eutectic mixture on stability constants of Ni-DTPA complexes	Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, RS	U. Catania, IT
Teona Teodora Borović	Influence of chaotropic and kosmotropic additives on thermodynamic parameters of caffeine self-aggregation in water	U. Novi Sad, RS	U. Ljubljana, SI

Prof. Matteo Tegoni - CA18202 STSM Coordinator
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability
University of Parma
Parco Area delle Scienze 17A
43123 Parma
ITALY
matteo.tegoni@unipr.it

Dr. Sofia Gama - CA18202 Action Vice-Chair
Department of Analytical Chemistry
Faculty of Chemistry
University of Białystok
ul. Ciołkowskiego 1K
15-245 Białystok
POLAND
sofia.gama@uwb.edu.pl