On 31 March the COST Association published its updated submission guidelines for the COST Open Call 2026. Some changes have been made to proposal eligibility guidelines which applicants are advised to check before applying. The COST Association Info Days took place on 16 June 2026, with the UK COST webinar on 22 June and the call opening as billed on 31 July. The COST Open Call closes on 28 October.
Details for COST Open Call 2026
COST advises that the following changes to the SESA (Submission Evaluation Selection and Approval) process have been made:
As before, researchers propose interdisciplinary research networks under COST for 4 years. A network of proposers comprises at least seven COST Full or Cooperating Members amongst which at least 50% are from COST Inclusiveness Target Countries.
New in 2026:
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- in addition, at least 40% of proposers must be Young Researchers and Innovators.
- in each Open Call, an individual may participate in one proposal only as either a Main or Secondary Proposer
- the Technical Annex part of the proposal is now integrated into the rest of the submission on e-COST rather than being a stand alone document
- page limits should not be exceeded or proposals cannot be submitted.
80 COST Actions will be funded this year compared to 70 last year.
For full information on the Open Call including key application documents please see the article from COST on “what’s new” in 2026 and the updated COST Association Open Call 2026 page
COST Info Days 2026
The COST Info Days were held on 16 June with a video recording and slides available.
UK COST Webinar 2026
The UK COST webinar was held on 22 June with a video recording and slides available.
Last updated: 12 August 2026