COST - European Cooperation in Science and Technology

25/08/2026

🌱 Can a garden grow from a drop of water?

Add certain metal salts to water and something extraordinary happens: delicate, colourful tubes and filaments begin to grow, twist and bloom.

These are chemical gardens created by chemistry.🌿🧪

Could these self-growing forms help us design new materials, improve biomedical devices, capture CO₂ or even understand how life first emerged on Earth?🌍

The COST Action (CBrio) brought together chemists, physicists, mathematicians, engineers and artists from across Europe to explore these chemical gardens.

And the results grew far beyond the laboratory. 🚀

🔬 A community of researchers that continues to collaborate today

📚 A publicly accessible database documenting chemical gardens from around the world

🎬 A documentary that brought the beauty of chemobrionics to the big screen: 🔗 https://bit.ly/4gaHYag

🎨 Artistic projects showing how science can inspire creativity

As Action Chair Prof. Julyan Cartwright puts it:
💭 “The most important achievement was the establishment of a community of researchers that persists to this day.”💭

Read the full story 🔗 : https://bit.ly/45EXmXN

cc: Dr Carlos Pimentel, Dr Jitka Cejkova, Mathis Leemann, Prof. Tan-Phat Huynh, Jan-Erik Andersson, Prof. Agota Toth, and Dr Federica Ortelli, PhD.

The subtitle of our 5-min length audio-visual chemobrionics related...

24/08/2026

🇺🇦 Happy Independence Day, Ukraine! 🫶

On 24 August, Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day, marking the declaration of independence in 1991.

Today, this day carries an even deeper meaning as Ukrainians continue to defend their freedom, sovereignty and future.

🇺🇦 Ukraine is the youngest member of the COST family, having joined in 2022. 🚀

Since then, its scientific community has shown remarkable resilience by continuing to collaborate internationally, exchange knowledge, and contribute to European research, despite the extraordinary challenges posed by the war.

COST provides a space where Ukrainian researchers can stay connected to the European research community, build new partnerships, and keep science moving forward.

🚀 Ukraine in COST in 2025:

🔹 60% participation in COST Actions
🔹 454 Working Group members collaborating across Europe
🔹 27 trainees and 14 STSM grantees from Ukraine
🔹 €174,387 received to support participation

Discover the COST Country Factsheet 2025 👇
https://bit.ly/4gCaanT

21/08/2026

From COST Action to international recognition! 🏆

Can a COST Action network help open the door to a major international stage?
The answer is yes! 🚀

Dr Alberto Sensini, a postdoctoral researcher at the universities of Maastricht and Groningen, as well as a working group member of the TENET COST Action, received the prestigious European Society of Biomechanics Early Career Research Award at the 10th World Congress of Biomechanics (WCB26) in Vancouver, Canada. 🍁
This edition has been jointly organised by the European Society of Biomechanics, the American Society of Biomechanics and the Canadian Society of Biomechanics. 🤝

This award recognises his exceptional contributions to the development of innovative biomimetic scaffolds for tendon-to-bone regeneration through his 3NTHESES project.

COST also played a part: TENET supported Dr Sensini through a Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grant, enabling him to share his work with the international biomechanics community.

💭 "This award confirms the potential of the innovative nanofibrous biomimetic metamaterials that we have developed," said Alberto Sensini. "I would also like to thank the TENET COST Action for supporting my travel through the Young Researchers and Innovators Conference Grant."💭

Alberto's story is a good example of how networking can help young researchers to develop promising research. 🚀

Read the full story: 🔗 https://bit.ly/4zpYKLl

cc: Prof. Philipp Thurner (Chair of the ESB Early Career Committee and Deputy Awards Committee of ESB), Dr Alberto Sensini and Prof. Michele Conti (Secretary General of ESB)

20/08/2026

🇭🇺 Happy St Stephen’s Day, Hungary!

🤴 Celebrated on 20 August, St Stephen’s Day honours St Stephen, Hungary’s first king and founder of the Hungarian state. It is also a national celebration of Hungarian identity, bringing together history, culture and tradition.

From colourful Hungarian folk art to the vibrant Busójárás carnival, Hungary’s cultural heritage is full of distinctive traditions. Its renowned cuisine and UNESCO-listed treasures such as Budapest and the traditional village of Hollókő reflect the country’s rich history.

Alongside this rich heritage, Hungary has a strong tradition of scientific excellence and innovation. Since joining COST in 1991, Hungarian researchers have been connecting with peers across Europe and beyond, building networks that create opportunities for collaboration, knowledge exchange and scientific discovery. 🚀

🇭🇺 Hungary in COST in 2025:
🔹 81% participation in COST Actions
🔹 844 Working Group members collaborating across Europe
🔹 38 activities organised in Hungary
🔹 €348,060 received to support participation

Discover more about Hungary’s participation in COST in the Country Factsheet 2025:
🔗 https://bit.ly/4653CrR

cc: Ms Orsolya Toth, COST Country representative for Hungary

19/08/2026

🎥 What can extreme environments tell us about the origins of life?

Researchers from across the world came together in Argentina for the Training School on Minimal Replicators in Extreme Environments to explore fascinating questions:

🧬 What happens when molecules begin to replicate?
🌋 Could extreme environments hold clues to how life emerged?
🔬 How can we build simple systems that mimic some of the behaviour of living systems?

The video takes us inside the training school, showing the researchers, experiments, discussions and international collaboration. It is also a great example of science communication in action: using film to make complex research visible and accessible to wider audiences.

🌍 And DYNALIFE continues a strong tradition of the completed CBrio Action; it uses science communication to open the laboratory doors to the public and reveal the surprising beauty of chemical reactions.

From global cooperation and hands-on training to compelling science stories, DYNALIFE is showing that some of the biggest questions in science can also make fascinating stories for everyone.

🎬 Take a look inside the Training School:
https://vimeo.com/1206434877

cc: Dr Diego Luis Gonzalez, Dr Dario Zanasi, and Dr Federica Ortelli

DYNALIFE TRAINIG SCHOOL. MINIMAL REPLICATORS IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS a documentary by Diego Luis Gonzalez and Dario Zanasi Supported by COST 2026 d. 10'15''

18/08/2026

Can four years change a field? 💻🌍

Women remain underrepresented in informatics. This means that the technologies that shape our everyday lives are at risk of being designed from a narrow perspective.

COST Action was set up to address this issue. What started as a network evolved into something much bigger: a new research field, new collaborations, new PhD projects, and opportunities for the next generation of researchers.

Discover the people and stories behind this lasting change, from the almost 100 researchers trained to the seven collaborative projects launched beyond the Action.

👩‍💻 Featuring Prof. Letizia Jaccheri, Action Chair, Irene Zanardi, and Claudia Cutrupi 💐

cc: Rossella Magli, COST Science Officer, and Rose Santos, COST Administrative Officer.

Read the full success story 🔗 : https://bit.ly/3SHdsgB

17/08/2026

✨ Spotlight on the latest COST Action outputs accepted by Open Research Europe (ORE)! 🎉

'Defining transnational families: A systematic review of conceptual patterns' by

the COST Action CA21143 -TraFaDy.

What makes a family transnational? 🌍
As more people live, work, and care for loved ones across borders, understanding transnational families is becoming increasingly important.

Discover this Open Access review, which analyses nearly 400 studies to explore how the concept of transnational families has evolved, identifies gaps in current research, and calls for a more inclusive understanding of family life across borders. 🚀

📖 Read the publication 🔗 : https://bit.ly/4z2d6BC

Lead author: Irma Mačkinė

Co-authors: Maja Savic-Bojanicć, Brigitte Suter, Isabelle ALBERT, Ute Karl and the COST Action CA21143 -TraFaDy research team.



cc Open Research Europe

13/08/2026

🚀 1.29 million potential readers.

Can you guess which COST success story attracted the biggest audience so far in 2026?

🦟 The article 'From itchy problem to smart solutions' captured international attention after being featured by News Medical under the headline 'Orchestrating a global response to the mosquito threat.'

Led by Dr Peyman Ghaffari, the COST Action IMAAC transformed international collaboration into practical innovations, including:

👕 a plant-based mosquito-repellent textile treatment that remains effective for up to 30 washes
📱 an AI-powered mosquito identification app with more than 98% accuracy

This is a great example of how COST Actions turn excellent research into solutions with real benefits for society and stories that resonate far beyond the scientific community.

Congratulations to Dr Peyman Ghaffari and everyone involved in IMAAC on this outstanding achievement.
cc: Dr Federica Ortelli, COST Science Officer.

📖 Read the story: https://bit.ly/4qx0Nsp

11/08/2026

🌍 Sometimes, a short research visit can change the course of a career.🚀

Every year, COST funds more than 2,000 Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs), giving researchers the opportunity to work with colleagues in another country and access new expertise and research facilities.

For many, these exchanges become much more than a few weeks abroad. They spark new ideas, lead to joint publications, open the door to new research funding, and create collaborations that continue long after the visit ends. 🚀

⭐ Marija Banožić (from the COST Action FoodWaStop) found new research opportunities that helped shape her career.

⭐Casim Yazıcı's STSM within the COST Action European Materials Informatics Network (EuMINe) inspired an entirely new research direction, resulting in joint scientific publications and an international research proposal.

Discover how COST Short-Term Scientific Missions are helping researchers grow, collaborate and make an impact. 🚀

📖 Read the STSM showcase story: https://bit.ly/3SayTGF
cc: Beatriz Cristóbal

10/08/2026

Looking for an inspiring watch this summer? ☀️

If you missed the latest LIAISE COST Action Young Researchers Programme webinar, now is the perfect time to catch up.

In "Artificial Intelligence Tools for Research", Prof. Radu Godina shares practical advice on how AI can support every stage of the research process while helping researchers avoid common mistakes, particularly when writing scientific papers.

🎓 In this session, you'll learn:
🔹 How AI can improve productivity and streamline research tasks
🔹 How to use AI responsibly and ethically in research
🔹 How to choose the most suitable AI tools for different research needs
🔹 Common pitfalls to avoid when using AI in scientific writing

🎥 Watch the recording and share it with colleagues and young researchers who could benefit from it: https://youtu.be/WYGhkFvo8uQ