Call of the 2nd funding period of CA23149

Democratization at stake? Comparing Anti-Gender Politics in CEE and NME countries

calls proposals via the e-cost website until June 18, 2026 for activities finishing till 15 September 2026

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.

ITC Conference Grant

This call is dedicated to researchers and innovators based in an ITC country (Inclusiveness Target Countries): Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine

The grant will be given to applications for delivering an oral presentation about their work and to establish new collaborations. At the same time it aims to increase visibility of the cost action. We expect the conference to have a high impact on the grantee’s discipline to ensure the visibility of our COST network

Please note that applications for the ECPR and ECPG are not eligible in this round.

Submission deadline: June 18, 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
• Copy of the abstract of the accepted oral presentation
• Acceptance (or invitation) letter from the conference organisers
• The support will be paid as a lump sum: to EU/UK: 900 €; to East-coast US/Canada: 1.800 €; to Westcoast US/Canada and rest of the world: 2.200 €; to non-European Mediterranean Bassin: 900 €
• Statement regarding the expected outcome and how the project aligns with the aims of the Cost Action
• 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