Action TU1208
Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar
COST Success Story
Short-Term Scientific Missions
Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) are important means to develop linkages and scientific collaborations between participating institutions involved in a COST Action. Scientists from COST and Near Neighbour Countries (NNCs) have the possibility to visit an institution in another participating COST Country, or an approved institution in a NNC/International Partner Country (IPC), in order to undertake joint research, share knowledge, techniques, equipment and infrastructures.
STSMs shall specifically contribute to the scientific objectives of the supporting COST Action.
STSMs are particularly intended for Early-Career Investigators (ECI), i.e., young researchers who have the PhD degree since no more than 8 years when they start being involved in the Action; periods of career’s leave have to be added to the mentioned time span. Supporting ECIs to develop independent careers and to establish their first research group under their own responsibility is a strategic priority for COST.
Actions shall take care to ensure that the distribution of beneficiaries of the STSM scheme is gender-balanced. Applications from Inclusiveness Target Countries are strongly encouraged.
Duration of a standard STSM can be from 1 week (5 days) to 3 months (90 days). An ECI may extend the duration of the STSM beyond the 90 days (the maximum duration for extended STSMs is 180 days). STSMs need to be carried out in their entirety within a single grant period.
A STSM Grant is a fixed financial contribution up to 2.500,00 EUR or 3.500,00 EUR for missions carried out by ECIs and longer than 90 days. The granted amount is based on the budget requested by the applicant and on the evaluation of the application by the MC. The aim of the grant is to support the costs associated with the exchange visit. It does not necessarily cover all expenses and has to be intended as a contribution to the travel and subsistence costs of the scientist performing the mission.
Applications must be submitted by using the online application form. When an ongoing Action receives a STSM proposal, the Management Committee (MC) performs its evaluation. The MC of COST Action TU1208 formally delegated the evaluation of STSM applications to the Action Chair, Prof. Lara Pajewski (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy), and to the STSM Manager, Prof. Marian Marciniak (National Institute of Telecommunications of Poland, Poland).
The selection of STSM applications is based on the scientific scope of the proposed STSM, which must be in line with the Action objectives (as already mentioned), on the quality of the application, and on the curriculum vitae of the applicant. Geographical issues and gender balance are taken into consideration, as well. A STSM applicant must be engaged in a research programme as a postgraduate student or postdoctoral fellow, or be employed by or officially affiliated to an institution or legal entity. This institution is considered as the Home Institution; it can be a public or private entity.
After performing the STSM, the Grantee has 30 calendar days from the end date of the mission in question to submit a scientific report to the Action Chair and the STSM Manager, along with a letter prepared by the host scientist where he/she confirms the successful execution of the mission. The payment of the STSM Grant is subject to the approval of the submitted scientific report by the Action Chair and STSM Manager (if one or both of them are involved in the STSM, then the Vice-Chair evaluates the report).
Full and updated information about the STSM networking tool can be found in the COST Vademecum.
COST Action TU1208 ended in October 2017, therefore it is not possible anymore to submit STSMs proposals to our Action!
During the lifetime of COST Action TU1208, 35 STSMs were funded and fruitfully carried out. In the right column of this webpage, the list of completed STSMs is reported.
Completed STSMs
1. Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
STSM Title: Electromagnetic modelling of Ground Penetrating Radar responses to complex targets
Dates: from 21-10-2013 to 20-12-2013
Location: University of Edinburgh, School of Engineering, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Host: Antonios Giannopoulos, UK
2. Iraklis Giannakis, UK (ECI)
STSM Title: Numerical modelling of Ground-Penetrating Radar antennas
Dates: from 15-1-2014 to 21-3-2014
Location: Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
Host: Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
3. Sonia Santos Assunçao, ES (ECI)
STSM Title: The preservation of the Tholos Tomb of Acharnon
Dates: from 15-1-2014 to 15-2-2014
Location: GEOSERVICE, Athens, Greece
Host: Klisthenis Dimitriadis, EL (Industry)
4. Philippe De Smedt, BE (ECI)
STSM Title: Reconstructing prehistoric environments at Stonehenge with multiple electromagnetic survey methods
Dates: from 1-2-2014 to 31-3-2014
Location: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Vienna, Austria
Host: Wolfgang Neubauer, AT
5. Loredana Matera, IT (ECI)
STSM Title: Tests, comparison and improvement plans for an innovative reconfigurable stepped-frequency GPR
Dates: from 1-6-2014 to 30-6-2014
Location: 3d radar, Trondheim, Norway
Host: Jacopo Sala, NO (ECI)
6. Nicolas Pinel, FR (ECI, Industry)
STSM Title: Modelling the effect of soil roughness on the inversion of UWB off-ground monostatic GPR signal
Dates: from 17-10-2014 to 24-10-2014
Location: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Host: Sébastien Lambot, BE
7. Nicolas Pinel, FR (ECI, Industry)
STSM Title: Measurement of the effect of soil roughness on the inversion of UWB off-ground monostatic GPR signal
Dates: from 16-2-2015 to 20-2-2015
Location: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Host: Sébastien Lambot, BE
8. Mehdi Sbartai, FR (ECI)
STSM Title: Full Waveform inversion of civil engineering objects
Dates: from 23-2-2015 to 27-2-2015
Location: Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Host: Jan van der Kruk, DE
9. Hovik Baghdasaryan, ARM
STSM Title: Application of the Method of Single Expression and Beam-Propagation Method to GPR
Dates: from 16-2-2015 to 27-2-2015
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL
(Inclusiveness)
10. Simone Meschino, DE (ECI, Industry)
STSM Title: Application of a SAP-DoA Method to GPR data, for the Localisation of Scatterers in Concrete
Dates: from 3-4-2015 to 10-4-2015
Location: Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
Host: Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
11. Igor Prokopovich, RUS (PhD Stud.)
STSM Title: Two-way WKB Approximation and Wave-Parabolic Equation applied to GPR
Dates: from 24-4-2015 to 7-5-2015
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL
(Inclusiveness)
12. Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
STSM Title: Comparative study of GPR international standards and guidelines
Dates: from 11-5-2015 to 26-5-2015
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL
(Inclusiveness)
13. Mercedes Solla, ES (ECI)
STSM Title: Non-destructive tests for railway evaluation: Detection of fouling and joint interpretation of GPR and track geometric parameters
Dates: from 1-6-2015 to 30-6-2015
Location: National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, Lisbon, Portugal
Host: Simona Fontul, PT (Inclusiveness)
14. Raffaele Persico, IT
STSM Title: Use of GPR and standard geophysical methods to explore the subsurface
Dates: from 14-7-2015 to 24-7-2015
Location: University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Host: Sebastiano D’Amico, MT
(Inclusiveness)
15. Luca B. Ciampoli, IT (PhD Stud.)
STSM Title: GPR inspections in tunnels for effective construction and maintenance of transport infrastructures
Dates: from 8-9-2015 to 5-12-2015
Location: University of West London, London, United Kingdom
Host: Amir M. Alani, UK
16. Isabel Rodriguez-Abad, ES (ECI)
STSM Title: Processing algorithms to assess waterfront location in building materials by GPR
Dates: from 6-11-2015 to 22-11-2015
Location: University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France
Host: Jean-Paul Balayssac, FR
17. Hamza Reci, AL (NNC)
STSM Title: Moisture evaluation of wood material using GPR
Dates: from 9-11-2015 to 9-12-2015
Location: I2M laboratory Department of Civil Engineering (I2M-GCE), University of Bordeaux, France
Host: Mehdi Sbartai, FR (ECI)
18. Vânia Marecos, PT (PhD Stud., Inclusiveness)
STSM Title: Calibration methods for air coupled antennas
Dates: from 29-11-2015 to 12-12-2015
Location: University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Host: Mercedes Solla, ES (ECI)
19. Simone Meschino, DE (ECI, Industry)
STSM Title: A study of the accuracy of the SAP-DoA location technique applied to GPR data and comparison with the standard hyperbola approach
Dates: from 4-1-2016 to 8-1-2016
Location: Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
Host: Lara Pajewski, Italy (ECI)
20. Vega Pérez-Gracia, ES
STSM Title: An educational package to teach GPR in University
Dates: from 22-2-2016 to 26-2-2016
Location: Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
Host: Lara Pajewski, Italy (ECI)
21. Patrizio Simeoni, IE (ECI, Stakeholder)
STSM Title: GPR in civil engineering: disseminating information to stakeholders and end users
Dates: from 31-03-2016 to 04-04-2016
Location: Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
Host: Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
22. Alessio Ventura, IT
STSM Title: Comparison of finite-difference and finite-integration methods in the time-domain for the simulation of GPR and other electromagnetic applications
Dates: from 18-04-2016 to 22-04-2016
Location: The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Host: Antonis Giannopoulos, UK
23. Viviana Sossa, ES (PhD Stud.)
STSM Title: GPR applications in civil engineering: Collaborating with a company and preparing material for the education pack
Dates: from 25-04-2016 to 29-04-2016
Location: Murphy Surveys, Dublin, Ireland
Host: Sonia Santos Assunçao, IE (ECI, Industry)
24. Alexei Popov, RUS
STSM Title: Coupled WKB approach applied to Ground Penetrating Radar
Dates: from 25-04-2016 to 30-04-2016
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL (Inclusiveness)
25. Tamara Knyazyan, ARM
STSM Title: Enhancement of GPR-ground matching by chirped multilayer structure: numerical modelling by the method of single expression
Dates: from 01-08-2016 to 19-08-2016
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL (Inclusiveness)
26. Alessandro Fedeli, IT (PhD Stud.)
STSM Title: Testing of a new lightweight radar system for tomographical reconstruction of circular structures
Dates: from 12-09-2016 to 23-09-2016
Location: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, BE
Hosts: Jana Jezova (PhD Stud.) and Sébastien Lambot, BE
27 and 28. Xavier Derobert (FR) and Simona Fontul (PT, Inclusiveness) – Joint STSM
STSM Title: Development of a guideline for the detection of buried utilities and voids in urban areas, using Ground Penetrating Radar
Dates: from 17-10-2016 to 21-10-2016
Location: Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Host: Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
29. Simone Meschino, DE (ECI, Industry)
STSM Title: Finalization of a freeware data-processing tool implementing a SAP-DoA technique
Dates: from 27-12-2016 to 05-01-2017
Location: Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Host: Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
30. Salih Serkan Artagan, TK (PhD Stud.)
STSM Title: GPR assessment of railway ballast
Dates: from 02-01-2017 to 03-02-2017
Location: Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
Host: Andrea Benedetto, IT
31. Raffaele Persico, IT
STSM Title: Integrated geophysical investigations of sites of cultural interest in Malta
Dates: from 05-03-2017 to 18-03-2017
Location: University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Host: Sebastiano D’Amico, MT
(Inclusiveness)
32. Margarita Chizh, RUS (PhD Stud.)
STSM Title: Design and realization of a frequency-modualted continuous-wave (FMCW) Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) dedicated to educational purposes. Extension of interactive setup functionalities.
Dates: from 06-03-2017 to 02-04-2017
Location: Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Host: Vincenzo Ferrara, IT
33. Lara Pajewski, IT (ECI)
STSM Title: Organization of the Final Conference and editorial activities
Dates: from 06-05-2017 to 24-06-2017
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL
(Inclusiveness)
34. Santo Prontera, IT (ECI)
STSM Title: Joint review and finalization of some Education Pack modules
Dates: from 12-09-2017 to 01-10-2017
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL
(Inclusiveness)
35. Alessio Ventura, IT
STSM Title: Review and finalzation of some Education Pack modules and website improvement
Dates: from 18-09-2017 to 01-10-2017
Location: Instytut Łączności - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy (National Institute of Telecommunications), Warsaw, Poland
Host: Marian Marciniak, PL
(Inclusiveness)
For information concerning COST Action TU1208 and TU1208 GPR Association, please take contact with the Chair of the Action and President of the Association, Prof. Lara Pajewski. From 4 April 2013 to 3 October 2017, this website was supported by COST, European Cooperation in Science and Technology - COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework Programme Horizon2020. TU1208 Members are deeply grateful to COST for funding and supporting COST Action TU1208. As of 4 October 2017, this website is supported by TU1208 GPR Association, a non-profit association stemming from COST Action TU1208.
