FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions for newcomers
1. What is a COST Action?
A COST Action is a network of researchers, innovators and practitioners from different disciplines who work together on a topic of shared interest. COST Actions cover topics from all areas of science and technology and last for four years.
COST Actions provide support for meetings, travel, training schools, creation and dissemination of educational materials, among other things. The goal is to help participants develop their careers, expand their professional networks, and further their shared field of interest.
Every COST Action includes multiple Working Groups, each of which focuses on a narrower aspect of the Action’s overall topic. COST Action participants can belong to one or multiple Working Groups within the Action.
For more information, please consult this page: https://www.cost.eu/cost-actions/what-are-cost-actions/
2. Why join a COST Action?
Taking part in a COST Action is a way to network and meet people who you share an interest with. This covers different communities: academia, NGOs and grassroots communities, and industry. As such, COST Actions can lead to cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration that is both fruitful and inclusive.
COST offers funding for selected participants to attend networking and training events related to the Action, as well as provides grants for short-term mobility and conference attendance. This way, COST aims to support the professional development and career prospects of Action participants. COST Actions particularly emphasise providing opportunities to those in the early stages of their careers and those who may not be able to secure travel support otherwise.
3. What is GRADE about?
GRADE is a COST Action that focuses on grassroots-level creative computing in Europe. By creative computing, we mean research and artistic practice that combines digital technology and media culture. This covers many things, ranging from videogames, to the demoscene, to computational and music. By grassroots, we mean activities driven by ordinary people and local or online communities, as opposed to corporations, political organisations, etc.
Our goal is to better understand the role of grassroots movements related to creative computing in Europe and bring together our knowledge from different parts of Europe. This is necessary because, so far, knowledge on this topic has often been limited to individual countries or regions, without looking at the interactions between them and how they compare to each other. GRADE consists of three Working Groups, which you can read about below.
During the Action, we will produce useful resources that can be used by both academics and practitioners (white papers and other publications, educational materials, etc.) We meet twice a year in person to network and collaborate on current tasks, in addition to online meetings.
4. What Working Groups does GRADE have?
There are three Working Groups, each relating to a different theme related to grassroots-level creative computing.
Working Group 1: Digital Grassroots Across Europe. WG1 is focused on research on creative computing cultures on a pan-European level. This includes the study of creative computing histories in Europe, as well as the contributions of women and minority groups, which have often been overlooked.
Working Group 2: Institutionalizing Digital Grassroots. WG2 aims to examine how creative computing practices intersect with cross-European policies. This relates to such issues as circular economy, right to repair, and privacy.
Working Group 3: Digital Grassroots as European Cultural Heritage. WG3 centers on exploring the ways of preserving creative computing as a form of (in)tangible cultural heritage.
You can find more information about each Working Group and its scope and activities in the Memorandum of Understanding: https://e-services.cost.eu/files/domain_files/CA/Action_CA21141/mou/CA21141-e.pdf
5. What are GRADE’s plans for this year?
This year, GRADE hosted a workshop in Istanbul, Turkey (April 22-23) and a conference in Dundalk, Ireland (June 12-13). There are three more upcoming events:
- On August 16, GRADE is co-organizing a Discussion Panel on Inclusion in Creative Computing at this year’s Evoke demoparty (https://2024.evoke.eu/) in Cologne, Germany. See here for more information.
- On September 26-27, Working Group 2 will hold a workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania, dedicated to working on a white paper on grassroots-level creative computing practices and online privacy, as well as preparing for a hybrid exhibition about how media traveled across borders, before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
- In September, GRADE will also be involved in an event organized in Berlin, Germany in cooperation with the European Federation of Video Game Archives, Museums and Preservation projects.
As an Action member, you will be notified when a meeting is coming up through an email invitation. This provides an opportunity to apply for reimbursement (in other words, for the Action will cover the costs of travel and accommodation). Depending on how many participants apply, we may not be able to cover everyone’s expenses, but everyone who applied will receive a notification about whether their application has been successful or not. For more information about the COST reimbursement procedure, please see https://www.cost.eu/cost-actions/annotated-rules-qa/
6. How does GRADE support young researchers and innovators?
One of the objectives of GRADE is to support individual mobility and career development of young researchers and innovators (under the age of 40) through grants and events. Opportunities we offer include Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs), in which grantees receive funding for a visit to an institution abroad so they can work on specific topic related to the Action’s topic and activities. Information about the current call is available here: https://costgrade.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CA21141_STSM_Grant_Call_2023-24.pdf
We also offer funding to attend events not organised by the COST Action, through Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC) Conference Grants. You can find a list of countries eligible for ITC Conference Grants here: https://www.cost.eu/about/strategy/excellence-and-inclusiveness/ Information about the current call is available here: https://costgrade.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CA21141-2nd-ITC-Grant-Call-2023-24.pdf
GRADE also organises Training Schools focused on developing practical skills related to the Action’s topics and activities. These offer a chance for young researchers and innovators to collaborate with peers and professionals working in the field and to develop new skills.
7. How do I join GRADE?
All COST Actions follow the same procedure: to join, participants need to choose one or more Working Groups related to their skills and interest and apply online by submitting a short application.
Before joining, please look through the Action’s Memorandum of Understanding to get a fuller idea of the Action: https://e-services.cost.eu/files/domain_files/CA/Action_CA21141/mou/CA21141-e.pdf
To apply, you need to have (or create) an account on the eCOST portal: https://e-services.cost.eu/user/login Then, you can apply to join your Working Group(s) of preference here: https://e-services.cost.eu/action/CA21141/working-groups/apply When applying, please specify why you are interested in the specific Working Group(s) and how your skills and background can support the WG’s goals and current activities.
We evaluate applications based on the criteria described here: https://tinyurl.com/cost-grassroots-evaluation
We aim to evaluate new applications within a month. When an application has been accepted, the applicant receives a notification with a link to our Discord server: the space that the GRADE community uses for communication.
The FAQ was authored by Eglė Stankevičiūtė, Michał Owczarek, Maria B. Garda, Nasir Muftić, Ola Prokopek, Miloš Vukelić, and Mikhail Fiadotau.