Proposals for new COST Actions can be submitted at any point in the year through the COST Open Call. Each Open Call has a deadline for submissions, once this deadline has been reached, all applications are evaluated based on clear criteria as outlined in the Submission, Evaluation, Selection and Approval (SESA) procedure. Proposals for new Actions are bottom-up and can be on any topic, however they must fulfill certain criteria in order to be approved, such as including researchers from at least seven COST Members.

Following a thorough evaluation and selection process, the decision for funding a proposal is taken by the COST Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) within eight months from the collection date. Successful proposals are approved to become COST Actions and can expect to kick-off within three months after approval.

Participants are invited to submit COST Action proposals contributing to the scientific, technological, economic, cultural or societal knowledge advancement and development of Europe. Multi- and interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged.

The Open Call Action proposal submission, evaluation, selection and approval (SESA) procedure is fully science and technology-driven and will ensure a simple, transparent and competitive proposal evaluation and selection process, reflecting the bottom-up, open and inclusive principles of COST.