During our COST action VOICES we recognized a gap in awareness and understanding of the importance of sex and gender as research variables among researchers and investigators. It has become evident that across Europe (and beyond), the academic environment does not provide sufficient education on sex-and gender-specific topics (SGT) in science and technology across fields. Given that integration of the gender dimension into research and innovation content is of paramount importance for society and growth and has thus become a requirement in research funding applications (especially in the Horizon Europe Programme), there is an urgent need to educate and train both researchers and proposal evaluators and in particular the younger generation on the importance of SGT and their integration into research. Inclusivity beyond SGT and intersectionality dimensions in research add to this urgent need, so that future research and innovation benefit everyone and especially the most vulnerable.

After conducting a successful training school during VOICES, we realised that the young research investigators (YRIs) who participated originally had almost no training in this area. Thanks to the training school, they discovered sex and gender methodologies and intersectionality and how to use them in their own research. The example of researchers who were in their field and had developed such methodologies was crucial in providing them with a practical and inspiring approach and helping them to open up new innovative research questions. Building on this experiment, we propose to replicate this experience, to create a toolkit based on it, to make all this material available online for a wider academic audience and to create communities of practice to facilitate the appropriation of SGT and inclusive methodologies.

The aim of this proposal is to develop a training programme, consisting of face-to-face workshops, CoPs and web-based toolkits, to 1) help the research community understand the importance of sex & gender as research variables and how they intersect with other variables, 2) provide guidance on how to incorporate them into research curricula, and 3) address the requirement for inclusive SGT and intersectionality dimensions in project proposals.

Frontier research depends on perspective! Over three intensive days, participants explore how sex, gender and intersectionality shape blind spots, data, methodologies and impact — and how integrating these perspectives can strengthen originality, robustness and explanatory power. The focus is not only on adding a “gender dimension” but on rethinking the project as a whole.

Through keynotes, hands-on workshops and peer mentoring, participants sharpen their research before reviewers do.

This intensive, co-creative workshop brings together researchers who are considering submitting a European Research Council proposal, or an MSCA proposal with a strong frontier research orientation, and who are interested in strengthening their projects through the integration of sex, gender and/or intersectional perspectives.

The workshop is aimed at researchers who understand research excellence as the ability to advance knowledge by asking sharper questions, challenging established assumptions and opening new analytical or methodological pathways. Rather than treating sex, gender and intersectionality as add-ons, the workshop focuses on how these perspectives can function as drivers of frontier research, opening new questions, refining methods, and improving reproducibility as well as explanatory power.

Through guided peer exchange, expert input, and hands-on proposal work, participants will critically reflect on their project ideas and explore how integrating these perspectives can strengthen their scientific ambition, methodological rigor, and impact narrative, in line with MSCA and ERC evaluation criteria.

The workshop is open to researchers who:

• are considering submitting an MSCA proposal (with a strong frontier research orientation) or an ERC proposal (Starting, Consolidator or Advanced Grant); and
• want to integrate sex, gender and/or intersectionality in a way that strengthens the scientific quality, originality, and ambition of their proposal.

All participants must be affiliated with a research organisation based in a COST member or COST near-neighbour country and must comply with COST eligibility requirements (see Annex-I-level-A-Country-and-Organisations-Table-Version-1.7.pdf).

We welcome applications from a diverse group of researchers across disciplines, career stages, countries, ethnicities, (dis)abilities, genders, and sexual orientations.

Please submit a form containing the following information:

1. Academic / Organisational Affiliation: name and address of organisation; current role and title; department, institute, research centre, or group.
2. Extended Abstract (max. 300 words): please provide a concise description of your research profile and proposal context related to your intended MSCA or ERC application.

You are not required to disclose confidential or highly innovative core ideas.

Please address the following points:

• a) Your main area(s) of expertise and current research focus.
• b) The thematic area/panel/domain in which you intend to apply (e.g. ERC panel, MSCA field).
• c) The type of grant and call you are targeting (e.g. MSCA PF, ERC Starting/Consolidator/Advanced Grant) and your intended submission timeline.
• d) The broader scientific context and relevance of your planned research agenda.
• e) Optional: Where you see potential for integrating sex, gender and/or intersectional perspectives at the level of research questions, design, data, or interpretation.

This information will be used to support tailored feedback, peer matching, and thematic clustering during the workshop.

3. Motivation for Participation (max. 200 words): why you wish to participate and how the workshop is expected to support and enhance your proposal (e.g., research design, excellence, originality/frontier character, and competitiveness).

4. Optional: any additional personal or contextual information you consider relevant for participation (voluntary).