Frequently asked questions

About the Action

What is NetSec, in one paragraph?

NetSec is a four-year COST Action (CA24154, Networking European Security Knowledge) running from October 2025 to October 2029. It brings together researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners working in or alongside European security studies, with the aim of bridging the academia–policy divide and cultivating the next generation of security scholars. Funded by the European Union through the COST programme. The legal Grant Holder is Universiteit Leiden.

Who runs the Action?

The Action Chair (Dr Moritz Weiss) and Vice-Chair (Dr Marie Robin) lead the Action politically and scientifically. Day-to-day, four Working Groups drive the work, each with a Leader and Co-Leader. The Grant Awarding Coordinator (Dr Eliza Gheorghe) and the Science Communication Coordinator (Mr Eugenio Sánchez) hold cross-cutting roles. See Action Leadership on the home page for the full picture.

When does the Action end?

09 October 2029. Four-year duration is the standard COST Action length, and there is no extension mechanism.

Joining & participating

How do I join the directory?

Submit your bio via the public Google Form. It takes about three minutes and asks for your name, country, affiliation, working groups of interest, a short bio, optional links (ORCID, LinkedIn), and an optional headshot. After a brief human review your card appears on the Network page within a week.

Do I need to be an MC member to join the directory?

No. The directory is open to MC representatives, Working Group participants, and the wider community of researchers and practitioners with an interest in European security. Anyone engaged with the field is welcome.

I'm a newly appointed MC member. What do I do first?

There's a step-by-step on the members' Wiki at Onboarding for new MC reps. The short version: log in to e-COST, confirm your participation, submit your bio to the directory, and join the mailing list.

Can I be part of more than one Working Group?

Yes. Many members contribute to two or more WGs. You declare your interest via the Google Form (or by updating your entry later). There is no quota or cap.

How do I update my bio, photo, or affiliation later?

Submit the form again with the updated information. The sync matches your new submission against your previous one (by email address) and updates your entry, so your leadership role, working-group position, and anything you leave blank stay exactly as they were. Your photo works the same way. There is no separate headshot form. To change it, resubmit the usual form with a new picture attached. The edit link in your confirmation email can change text fields but cannot replace the photo (a Google Forms limitation), so a fresh submission is the way to swap your headshot. You only need to fill in the required fields, and nothing else on your profile is touched.

Why does joining go through a Google Form rather than an open-source or European tool?

It is a pragmatic choice for a volunteer-run Action that keeps no server of its own. The Google Form gives us several things cheaply: a built-in barrier against spam (a sign-in and a verified email keep out drive-by submissions), a confirmation email with a link so you can come back and edit your entry, a photo upload for your headshot, and a spreadsheet our weekly update reads automatically with nothing for us to host or secure. Most of the people we want to reach already have a Google account, so the convenience cost is low. The trade-off is real. The tool is neither European nor open-source, and the sign-in asks something of researchers who would rather not hand Google a login. We limit that cost where we can. The sign-in email is used only to recognise when you are updating an existing entry and is never published. The address shown on your profile is a separate, optional question. We keep lighter and European alternatives under active review, and if the privacy cost ever outweighs the convenience, we will move. If you would rather not use the form at all, you can send your details through the contact form instead, though entering them by hand may add some delay before your entry appears.

Grants & funding

What grants can I apply for through NetSec?

Five schemes are documented on the Grants & Calls page: Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSM), Virtual Mobility grants, Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grants, ITC Conference Grants, and Dissemination Conference Grants. Maximum reimbursement is typically up to €2 100 per grant. Exact ceilings depend on grant type and trip distance.

How do I apply for an STSM?

Applications go through e-COST: log in, navigate to the STSM section, fill out the application form, attach a CV and a host invitation letter, submit. The Grant Awarding Coordinator (Dr Eliza Gheorghe) and her Co-Lead (Dr Chiara Libiseller) handle the assessment. Plan for a four- to six-week turnaround. A step-by-step is on the members' Wiki at How to apply for an STSM.

When are calls open?

STSMs are open year-round, subject to remaining budget for the Grant Period. Conference and Training School grants follow specific calls announced by the Action. Watch the Grants & Calls page and the mailing list.

Can I bring a co-author or collaborator on a Conference Grant?

A Conference Grant funds one attendee, the named applicant. Travel companions, co-authors not from the Action, and observers must fund themselves.

What does an STSM cover financially?

A flat daily allowance for accommodation and subsistence, plus travel costs up to a country-distance-dependent ceiling. STSMs are not salary. You remain employed (or stipended) by your home institution throughout. Detailed rates are in the COST Annotated Rules.

Why don't I see the grant I want on the e-COST portal?

The e-COST portal filters what each applicant sees based on their profile. ITC Conference Grants only appear to applicants affiliated in an Inclusiveness Target Country. The Young Researcher and Innovator Conference Grant only appears to applicants under 40. If a scheme listed on the Grants page isn't visible on your e-COST dashboard, your profile doesn't make you eligible, that's by design.

Why might my grant application be rejected?

Two common reasons. (1) The grant type is not in NetSec's Work and Budget Plan. The e-COST portal can surface grant types from other COST programmes. Submitting one of those to NetSec results in a rejection by the Grant Awarding Coordinator. The five schemes on the Grants page are the only ones in our WBP. (2) The eligibility criteria for the specific grant aren't met (country of affiliation, accepted presentation, no double funding, etc.).

Meetings & reimbursement

When does the next plenary happen?

The first MC plenary will be announced shortly after the Action's formal launch. Plenary dates and locations appear in the Roadmap section of the home page and in the mailing list.

Where do I find meeting agendas and minutes?

On the members' Wiki at Meeting notes & agendas. For closed-door material, contact the Action Chair.

How do I claim reimbursement after attending a meeting?

Through e-COST. Log in, find the meeting under My Activities, and follow the reimbursement workflow. You will need scanned travel tickets and accommodation receipts. The Grant Holder (Universiteit Leiden) processes reimbursements. Expect four to eight weeks from submission.

What if my reimbursement is rejected?

First, read the rejection note, most rejections are because of a missing document or a date that falls outside the eligibility window. If you are still stuck, contact the Grant Awarding Coordinator.

At a NetSec conference

I'm speaking at a NetSec conference. How do I correct my name, affiliation, or paper title on the programme?

The live programme is mirrored from Indico, the conference platform that hosts the event, so corrections are made on Indico rather than on this website, and they reach the site within a day. If you have an Indico account, the quickest fix is to do it yourself: open My Contributions, open your talk, and edit the title or description. To change your name or affiliation, find your name in the People section of that dialog and click the small pencil beside it, then edit the affiliation there. The pencil on the Call for Abstracts page is a different thing and greys out once a paper is accepted, which is expected, so edit the contribution rather than the abstract. If you do not have an Indico account, or someone else submitted the paper, ask your panel chair (who can edit every talk in their session) or send the correction through the contact form and we will make it. Editing your personal Indico profile does not change the programme, because Indico stores your name and affiliation on the contribution at the moment it was added. Whichever route you use, the website refreshes once daily overnight, so a change made today appears the next morning.

I'm chairing a panel. Can I reorganise it myself?

Yes, within your own session. Panel chairs are given coordinator rights on Indico, so from My Sessions on the Indico event page you can reorder the talks, adjust their timing, and edit each talk's details: its title, its speakers, and their affiliations. That also makes you the fastest route for your panelists' corrections. Changes that reach beyond your own session, such as moving the panel to a different slot or changing the room, stay with the organisers: send those through the contact form. As with every programme edit, the website reflects Indico once daily, overnight.

Where can I find a printable or PDF version of the programme?

Open the ESSC 2026 programme and use the Download programme (PDF) button near the top. It gives you the official, ready-to-print programme as a single file. You can also print the page from your browser with Ctrl or Cmd + P, choosing Save as PDF as the destination. That works well in Safari. In Chrome the in-browser print can cut the long programme short, so the download is the reliable option there.

Do you provide a letter of invitation for a visa?

Yes. If you need a letter of invitation to support a visa application, request one through the contact form and include your full name exactly as it appears in your passport, your affiliation, the title of your contribution if you have one, and the dates you plan to attend (the European Security Conference runs 11–12 June 2026 at Stockholm University). Please ask as early as you can. If your visa appointment is soon, tell us and we will prioritise your request.

Website & directory

How is the directory on this site different from the cost.eu listing?

The cost.eu listing is a flat list of formally appointed MC representatives. The NetSec directory is broader: it includes the wider community (Working Group participants, ECIs, interested researchers) who have opted in via the Google Form. The two are complementary. The directory is updated weekly from the form, and country-level MC information is also synced from cost.eu.

Why do some members have leadership cards on the home page and others don't?

The home page surfaces the Action Leadership, the Working Group Leaders, and the Working Group Co-Leaders as cards near the top. Every other member appears on the Network page but not on the home page. The distinction follows the formal MoU structure.

Who do I contact about the website?

Drop a message via the contact form. It reaches the site maintainer (Dr Arthur Laudrain, MC member CH) and the Action Chair. For security issues, follow SECURITY.md in the repository rather than posting publicly.

How do I see the full bio of a member from compact view?

The directory has two view modes: detailed (photo, role, affiliation, WG chips, bio, contact icons) and compact (a denser one-row layout). Switch between them with the small grid / list icons in the toolbar. In compact mode, click any card to expand it in place, the clicked card flips to its detailed form while the rest of the grid stays compact. Click outside the card, press Esc, or click another card to collapse it. The URL gets a #slug anchor so you can share a deep-link to a specific member's profile.

For NetSec members

Where's the working space for members?

On the members' Wiki. It holds meeting notes & agendas, the decisions log, how-tos (STSM application, bio updates, funding acknowledgement), the WG landing pages, templates & press kit copy-paste material, external resources, and lessons learned. Anyone with write access to the main repository can edit any wiki page directly in the browser, no PR, no review queue. See the Wiki home page for the full table of contents.

How do I acknowledge NetSec funding in a publication?

Three standard forms (full / short / one-line credit) and copy-paste text live on the Press kit page §5, and on the Wiki's Templates page. For a complete walkthrough see the Wiki's How to acknowledge NetSec funding.

How do I suggest a new FAQ entry?

Two options. (1) Use the contact form with "FAQ" in the message, the quickest route for non-technical contributors. (2) Open a pull request against faq.html in the repository if you're comfortable with GitHub.