Short-term scientific missions

An STSM is an individual research visit across an international border, enabling the participant to gain and share knowledge. The STSM is a networking tool offered by COST, aimed at supporting individual mobility, strengthening existing networks and fostering collaboration between COST Action Participants.

What is a Short-term scientific mission?

Learn more about STSMs here

Read about previous missions

STSMs are for people who want to gain and share knowledge across the academic boundaries between language and technology.

LITHME supports various interdisciplinary ventures. Find inspiration from the missions carried out in 2021 and 2022!

Read about previous missions

Congratulations to our 2023 STSM grant winners!

What is the objective of STSM missions in LITHME?

See our our detailed
Memorandum of Understanding

Each STSM should specifically contribute to the aims and objectives of LITHME, whilst also enabling participants to learn new techniques, and to gain access to specific data, instruments and/or methods not available in their own institutions. Participants do not need to cover all the topics of LITHME, but they should fit the profile of at least one Working Group, and ideally demonstrate learning across the interests of different Working Groups (especially between language and technology).

Applying for the Grant

Fill the online application form in e-COST and upload the following supporting documents:

STSM grant Application form

Confirmation letter from your host institution

Applications are closed for 2023.
Stay tuned for the next call!

During the Grant Period

Fulfil your Work Plan and the mission goals

You will be interviewed for LITHME website and social media

Document your mission, take photos or videos

At the end of your mission, prepare a vlog or blog post about your experience

After the Grant Period

Your Grant is paid out as a lump sum grant after the submission and approval of your STSM report (exceptionally, 50% pre-grant is possible).

Download the Grant Report template

What kind of missions does LITHME support?

LITHME is a very broad network, involving many subdisciplinary areas. The best STSMs will work towards the major goals of LITHME, to prepare linguistics for the human-machine era, and to inform technology specialists with insights from linguistics.

One example could be an interactional sociolinguist visiting a lab to learn more about interactive Augmented Reality equipment. This could help them to develop new theoretical approaches to interaction, in preparation for widespread consumer adoption of such equipment. Another example could be a lab hosting a language education specialist, who might develop insights into the potential for Virtual Reality and automated translation to create entirely new contexts for language learning.

Meanwhile technology specialists could leave the lab and visit linguistics departments to understand more about, say, conversation analysis – to refine their thinking about the way wearable language tech could alter the fabric of conversation. They might also plan to learn about potential inequalities in deploying (for instance) automated sign language utilities or translation chatbots for public services.

The above is absolutely not an exhaustive list of possibilities. These examples simply illustrate the principle of the twin goals of LITHME, to prepare linguistics for the human-machine era and to inform technology specialists with linguistic insights.

More info:

Auli Viidalepp
Grant Awarding Coordinator
grants [ a t ] lithme.eu