COST ACTION PROPOSAL
Governance and Regulation of Neurotechnologies
Executive Summary
A COST Action is a European funding instrument designed to support research networking. Through a four-year funding scheme, it enables researchers and innovators from different countries and disciplines to establish collaborative networks, organise meetings and workshops, promote mobility and training activities, and produce joint scientific and dissemination outputs.
The governance and regulation of neurotechnologies is particularly well suited to the COST framework. It requires sustained cooperation between legal scholars and experts from relevant scientific and technical disciplines, comparative analysis across jurisdictions, and the development of collaborative, evidence-based research within a structured international network.
Key features
• Funding objective:
Networking, coordination, mobility, training and dissemination activities rather than direct research funding.
• Duration and funding:
Four-year Actions with average funding of approximately €600,000.
• Funded activities:
– Workshops, conferences, Working Group meetings, Training Schools, dissemination initiatives and conference grants.
– Open-access papers, books, policy briefs and other dissemination materials resulting from the activities of the network.
The proposed COST Action aims to establish a research network on the governance and regulation of neurotechnologies. By bringing together researchers from different jurisdictions and disciplines, it seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, facilitate researcher mobility and knowledge exchange, and support the development of collaborative publications, including books, journal articles and other reference materials.
COST Actions: Activities and Funding
What activities does COST fund?
COST funding is primarily devoted to networking and capacity-building activities, including:
• Workshops, conferences and meetings organised within the network;
• Working Group meetings dedicated to specific research tasks;
• Training Schools aimed at developing new skills and competences;
• Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) allowing researchers to visit partner institutions;
• Conference grants, particularly for Young Researchers and Innovators (YRIs) and participants from Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs);
• Dissemination and communication activities, including websites, open-access publications, policy briefs, and outreach materials.
Subject to the applicable COST rules, funding often covers expenses incurred by participants (including travel and accommodation) as well as eligible organisational costs necessary for the implementation of meetings, workshops, training schools, dissemination initiatives, and related networking activities.
What does COST not fund?
COST Actions are not designed to finance research projects in the traditional sense. In particular, COST funding does not generally cover:
• Researchers’ salaries or employment contracts;
• Laboratory equipment or research infrastructure;
• Experimental or fieldwork costs;
How much funding is available?
COST Actions are typically funded for a period of four years. While no budget needs to be submitted together with the proposal, the average COST Action receives approximately €600,000 over its lifetime. Funding is allocated annually through Action Grant Agreements and is used to implement the activities approved in the network’s work and budget plans.
Towards a COST Action on the Governance and Regulation of Neurotechnologies
The rapid development of neurotechnologies is raising increasingly complex legal and regulatory questions across a wide range of fields, including healthcare, employment, judicial procedures, data protection and consumer protection, while also giving rise to broader implications for the protection of fundamental rights.
Addressing these challenges requires sustained dialogue between legal scholars and experts from the neurosciences, engineering, ethics and other relevant disciplines, as well as comparative analysis across different legal systems.
NeuroLex, the Centre for Research on the Regulation of Neurotechnologies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, is currently preparing a proposal for a COST Action on the governance and regulation of neurotechnologies. The proposed Action aims to secure the networking resources provided through the COST programme in order to support a four-year European collaborative project bringing together legal scholars and experts from the neurosciences, neurotechnology, ethics and other relevant disciplines.
Through the activities carried out within its Working Groups, the proposed Action would promote continuous collaboration between researchers from different countries and fields of expertise. Workshops, conferences, Training Schools, research mobility and other networking activities would facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience, enabling participants to explore common challenges from complementary legal, scientific and technical perspectives.
This collaborative environment is designed to support the development of interdisciplinary scientific outputs, such as books, journal articles, comparative studies, policy briefs, and other joint publications. By combining expertise from different disciplines and jurisdictions, these outputs would seek to contribute to a more coherent and evidence-based approach to the governance and regulation of neurotechnologies at both the European and national levels.
The deadline for the submission of COST Action proposals is 31 October 2026. The technical documentation supporting the proposal will be completed by the end of July. In view of the time required to complete the procedures associated with joining the consortium and finalising the proposal, expressions of interest would be greatly appreciated at the earliest opportunity.
For expressions of interest or further information regarding the proposed COST Action, please contact:
José Miguel Diéguez Rodríguez
jm.dieguezrodriguez@um.es