CA23149 – Short Term Scientific Mission grants: Announcement/Call for Applications (Deadline June 7, 2026)

Calls of the 2nd funding period of
CA23149 - Democratization at stake? Comparing Anti-Gender Politics in CEE and NME countries

CA23149 calls proposals via the e-cost website

Since the 1990s, Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and its Near and Middle Eastern (NME) neighbors have experienced major social and political shifts. Gender equality and anti-discrimination norms became key symbols of democracy, though their impact varied. For 15 years, these values—especially gender and sexual equality—have faced opposition from religious fundamentalism, homophobia, and neo-traditionalist ideologies. The network has established four working groups that aim to analyze anti-gender politics in these regions, linking them to democratic decline: Revealing the historical, social-political and economic background conditions, Deciphering the triangle of state, civil society and anti-gender actors, Rethinking activism and forms of oppositions with a focus on unexpected allies, and Dissemination and outreach activities.

Although membership is not mandatory, we encourage all grant applicants to join our COST Action Network and to become active members of one of the working groups. More information about our aims and scientific purpose can be found here: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA23149/
In addition to regular reporting and acknowledgment of the COST Action in all activities (e.g. in posters, presentations), grantees agree to publish the aims and results of their grant period in a format suitable for the COST Action’s social media channels.

Short-Term Scientific Mission Grant Announcement

We are pleased to announce a new funding opportunity through the Short-Term Scientific Mission Grant program. This initiative offers funding to support collaborative research efforts that transcend national and disciplinary boundaries. Missions should last between 1-4 weeks.

The program explicitly supports projects conducted in institutions that are part of this COST action. The grant emphasizes interdisciplinary work and requires a comparative research approach to foster innovative perspectives and methodologies across academic fields. Successful applicants will be expected to share their research findings through professional academic blogs as part of the grant requirements. This may include platforms like The Loop (ECPR) at https://theloop.ecpr.eu/, the Gender Blog at www.gender-blog.de, or other recognized professional blog platforms within the humanities or social sciences field. This dissemination requirement ensures that the research outcomes reach a broad academic audience and contribute to ongoing scholarly discussions.

The program's primary objective is strengthening the research community by encouraging networking across borders and disciplines. Through this funding opportunity, we aim to facilitate meaningful collaborations that can lead to lasting research partnerships and innovative academic outcomes.

Submission deadline: June 7, 2026

Application details:

• All applications are made via the portal e-cost https://e-services.cost.eu/ In your personal account you find the page to apply via the menu on the left: Cost Actions>My Grant Applications: https://e-services.cost.eu/activity/grants
• Invitation/Recommendation letter by the hosting institution, detailed working plan concerning the resources provided by the hosting institution.
• Information about the blog or website host where the outcome will be published, and an email confirming a pre-agreement with the respective hosts
• Description of the expected outcome, working plan and how it aligns with the aims of the Cost Action (For our memorandum of understanding, please see Cost Action Homepage)
• The support will be paid as a lump sum: 850 € for one week, 1150€ for 2 weeks, 1550€ for 3 weeks, 1950€ for 4 weeks
• A detailed user guide for the application platform can be found here: https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2025/01/COST-Grant-Awarding-user-guide.pdf

Applications in which there is reason to believe that content has been substantially generated by AI beyond simple language refinement may not be considered in the selection process.

Applicants will receive a preliminary notification of acceptance within two weeks after the deadline, subject to a positive decision by the MC.For further inquiries, please contact:
Elisa-Maria Hiemer: e.hiemer@fu-berlin.de
Andrea Pető: petoa@ceu.edu