The following information has been received from the COST Office (13/03/2020) concerning the Covid-19 outbreak, and the current COST policy on Action activities disrupted due to the outbreak. It is likely that this information and advice will be updated.

As of now, all MW-Gaia STSM and Meetimgs are SUSPENDED

The email below concerns activities from 13 March 2020. It doesn’t apply retroactively.

Dear Grant Holders,

Due to the evolving situation and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we would like to update you concerning the actions put in place by the COST Association to deal with the outbreak of coronavirus and its consequences .

Considering the measures made by most of the EU Member States and other States as of yesterday and the scope of those measures for our activities, the COST Association recommends the following measures, which will be enforced, as a minimum until 03 April:

• The suspension of physical meetings occurring within the framework of COST activities
• The cancellation of Training schools and STSMs

To mitigate the disruption to your Action, the following measures are encouraged: - Video conferences - The continuation of networking tools, including dissemination tools, that do not require physical meetings

Please instruct all your participants invited to meetings to: - cancel their transport tickets and accommodation ; - get reimbursement where possible via cancellation insurances or other available means. Otherwise non-refundable expenses will be covered by the grants of the COST Actions by requesting a derogation approval.

All participants currently attending events should follow the national and host institutions’ instructions.

In practice, those measures mean the following: Physical meetings’ suspension; Video conferences are encouraged; All networking tools, including dissemination tools, that do not require physical meeting should continue as much as possible; Upcoming Training schools and STSMs should be cancelled; STSMs and Training Schools currently taking place should follow the national and Host institutions’ instructions; Participation in Conferences and external meetings should follow the instructions of the organisers.

We understand the concern that this situation is creating amongst our community and we ask COST Actions Participants for patience in dealing with their claims arising out of those cancellations.