Dear Action Participants,
After completing our second grant period (GP2), we have many exciting developments to share:
Upcoming COST Action LeverAge GP3 Events
The 2nd Annual LeverAge Training School will be held at the Faculty of Sociology and Communication in the Transilvania University of Brasov on March 19 & 20 2026. The event will be organized by Dr. Horia Moasa, Dean of the Faculty of Sociology and Communication at the Transilvania University of Brasov.
The LeverAge Working Group (WG) 1-5 3rd Annual Meetings & WG Interplenary will be held at the University of Birmingham on May 21 & 22, 2026. The event will be organized by Dr. De Glykeria Skamagki from the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham.
More details on these upcoming events will be forthcoming.
Leadership Rotations
As we embark upon the second half of COST Action LeverAge’s lifetime and close out the first half, a few colleagues rotated out from their leadership roles.
Prof. Dr. Donald Truxillo from the University of Limerick (Ireland) stepped down as WG 2 Leader; Prof. Dr. Bernadeta Goštautaitė from the ISM University of Management and Economics & Vilnius University (Lithuania) stepped down as WG 2 Leader; Dr. Inês Carneiro e Sousa from ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Portugal) stepped down as Science Communication Officer; Dr. Kalina Sotiroska Ivanoska from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (North Macedonia) stepped down as Grant Awarding Officer.
They are replaced by Dr. Michela Vignoli from the University of Trento (Italy) as WG 2 Leader and who subsequently stepped down as WG 2 Vice Leader; Ms. Suprabha Gouri from the ISM University of Management and Economics (Lithuania) as WG 2 Vice Leader; Dr. Anabella Beju from the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (Romania) as WG 4 Leader; Dr. Mariia Balytska from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine) as Science Communication Officer and who subsequently stepped down as ITC Coordinator; Dr. Federica Previtali from the University of Helsinki (Finland) as Grant Awarding Coordinator; Dr. Mihael Nedeljko from Faculty of Organisation Studies in Nova Mesto (Slovenia) as ITC Coordinator.
We thank all our colleagues in the Action leadership for their tireless and dedicated service over these last two years and we wish them all the very best over the upcoming two years! A full listing of the COST Action LeverAge leadership team is available here.
Network Growth
As of this writing, COST Action LeverAge counts 260 participants from 59 countries! This participant count is approximately 23% higher than at the second quarter of GP2 and includes representatives from 5 new countries.
LeverAge Working Group (WG) 1-5 2nd Annual Meetings & WG Interplenary
The LeverAge WG 1-5 2ndAnnual Meetings & WG Interplenary took place on May 19th and 20th at the Palacký University Arts Center in Palacký University Olomouc in Olomouc, Czechia. It was locally organized by Dr. Slavka Silberg from the Department of Psychology at Palacký University Olomouc. The event was heavily attended, drawing 89 participants from 35 countries. The feedback was extremely positive, highlighting the importance of conducting impactful research and fostering collaborations. You can see more here and watch a video here.
Call for Papers
The journal Psychology and Aging is issuing a call for papers for a special issue on Aging and Career Development (initial manuscripts proposals due February 1, 2026):
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/pag/evolving-aging-careers
GP3 Grant Award Calls Are Now Open
GP3 (2026) Grant award calls are now open including for Short Term Scientific Missions, ITC & YRI Conference Grants, and Dissemination Conference Grants.
GP2 Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) Grants Awarded
COST Action LeverAge awarded 8 STSM grants in GP2, facilitating research and scholarly exchanges between Action participants from 9 countries including Bulgaria, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Ukraine! Details on all STSM grants awarded over the Action lifetime are available here.
Congratulations to all STSM grant award recipients and we hope these grants help you achieve scientific excellence and societal impact in work and aging!
Conference Grants Awarded
COST Action LeverAge awarded a record 31 conference grants in GP2, including 11 Dissemination Conference Grants, 6 ITC Conference Grants, and 14 YRI Conference Grants. Altogether, these grants greatly facilitated the science communication and capacity building goals of COST Action LeverAge at numerous international conferences, most notably the 22nd Congress of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, the 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, and the 8th Biennial Age in the Workplace Small Group Meeting. Awardees included Action participants from 14 COST Member countries including Albania, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Details on all conference grants awarded over the Action lifetime are available here.
Congratulations to all conference grant award recipients and we hope these grants help you achieve scientific excellence and societal impact in work and aging!
New Collaborative COST Action LeverAge Publications
Fazi, L., Zaniboni, S., & Wang, M. (2025). Age differences in the adoption of technology at work: A review and recommendations for managerial practice. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 38 138–175. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-12-2024-0767
Kitz, C. C., Fousiani, K., Scheibe, S., & Eppler-Hattab, R. (2025). Linking age-diversity practices and company ratings over time: Evidence from employer reviews and a longitudinal experiment. Journal of Organizational Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.70015
Eppler-Hattab, R., & Steindórsdóttir, B. D. (2025). The working life course of aging LGBTQ workers: An intersectional perspective and a theoretical framework, Work, Aging and Retirement. https://doi.org/10.1093/workar/waaf020
Oliveira, E., van der Heijden, B. I. J. M., Finsel, J. S., Axelrad, H., Derous, E., Gu, X., Marzec, I., Mykletun, R. J., Vignoli, M., Pajic, S., Wohrmann, A. M., & Deller, J. (2025). Necessary HRM practices for extended working lives in tight and loose societies: A comparative perspective. Human Resource Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.70040
Please see here for a comprehensive list of collaborative COST Action LeverAge publications.
Acknowledgement of Action Support
If a research project you are working on is eventually published and was presented at an ITC or Dissemination conference that you attended with Action funding OR was worked on during the course of a Short Term Scientific Mission that the Action funded OR was workshopped at an Action-funded workshop or Training School OR was presented, worked on, or otherwise discussed at length at an Action-funded Working Group meeting, please insert the following:
“This publication is based upon work from COST Action CA22120, LeverAge, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).”
If you acknowledge Action funding, please do your best to make the publication (or a preprint of the publication) available via open access, and to the extent that your publishing contract allows. Action funds are available to support open access publication, subject to COST rules (see Annex 3 of the Annotated Rules) and awarded on a first come first serve basis.
COST Action LeverAge Social Media Presence
Please take a moment to follow, like, and share our pages among your networks:
By following our social media accounts, you will stay updated on the latest news, events, and content. Your support in spreading the word about our new online presence is greatly appreciated. We encourage you to explore the LeverAge website and connect with us on social media. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please do not hesitate to share them with us.
Publicize your Recent Research
Do you have a newly accepted scientific publication related to work and aging?
Did you recently receive grant funding for a project related to work and aging?
Have you formed a new research collaboration with other COST Action LeverAge participants?
Please do not hesitate to email us with your recently accepted scientific publications, research funding, or new research collaborations formed with fellow Action participants so that we may share your success stories and/or scholarly endeavors with the Action network in future editions of this Action newsletter. This will help stimulate interest in your research and raise the profile of our COST Action.
You may direct all information related to success stories and new collaborations to communications@leverage-workforce.eu
Action Participants Needed
We are currently looking for qualified students/scientists/practitioners to join our Action network from the following 9 localities:
Egypt, the Faroe Islands, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Morocco, and Syria. Interested participants from any of these localities should have demonstrable pedagogical/scholarly/practical experience in one of the following fields: I/O psychology, HRM/OB, social psychology, cognitive/neuropsychology, developmental psychology, occupational health, human factors, sociology, or economics. If you know of any such person, please do not hesitate to email the Action Chair, Dr. Justin Marcus (jmarcus@ku.edu.tr).
We look forward to updating you on our continued developments by the middle of GP3!
Warm Regards,
