In 2023 we launched the DataCite Global Access Fund (GAF) with the support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, established to enable organizations worldwide to make their research outputs discoverable and connect to global open infrastructure. Today, we are thrilled to announce the first cohort of organizations and projects that are receiving GAF funding.
The first GAF Call for Proposals was well received by the community, with 185 applications from across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. The competition was fierce, with many great proposals, and we are delighted to introduce the awardees who stood out for their impactful vision.
Meet the Awardees
Outreach
Arab Center for Social Sciences (ACSS), Lebanon
The project will conduct training in open science practices (focusing on open research data) and open science infrastructure, two of the four pillars of Open Science per the UNESCO definition. The targeted training in specific institutions (Egypt and Morocco) will be delivered in Arabic. Through this targeted training, the project aims to create open science communities of practice that support each other and promote data management locally.
Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico
The project aims to enhance data management practices in north-central Mexico by developing and publishing an open science handbook in Spanish, emphasizing the use of persistent identifiers (PIDs). The project also includes expert seminars and workshops with Mexican institutions to foster collaboration in the region. The initiative aspires to extend its impact to the broader Latin America, offering training and awareness on data management practices.
Busitema University, Uganda
The goal of this project is to develop and deliver a five-day train-the-trainer workshop to a cohort of librarians, ICT professionals, and research administrators selected out of institutional members of the Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL). This work will ignite a countrywide conversation on the benefits of open scholarship and open science and increase awareness of integrating DataCite infrastructure services to make research discoverable. The project aims to create a publically available educational resource kit consisting of a training curriculum, guidelines for facilitating the training, training materials, and assessments on open scholarship, open science, and DataCite open infrastructure services. Each of the participating institutions in the training will be asked to prepare and deliver two similar trainings at their respective institutions annually.
Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), India
This project will raise awareness about PIDs, research data management, and open data, through collaborative training programs and surveys. The main goal is to reach the whole span of Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to increase awareness and build a culture of open data sharing through PID infrastructure.
National University of Rosario (UNR), Argentina
This project aims to bridge the gap in understanding the benefits of research data sharing and the use of PIDs, in line with the FAIR principles. By raising awareness about the advantages of PIDs for data visibility, citation, and compliance with international open data standards, the project seeks to encourage researchers to deposit more datasets in the RDA-UNR Academic Data Repository, thereby fostering a culture of open science, transparency, and collaboration. The anticipated impact includes increased visibility of research, promotion of science communication, and enhanced collaboration within the university and across Latin America.
Université Virtuelle de Côte d’Ivoire, Côte d’Ivoire
The project aims to address challenges of visibility and accessibility of research outputs and data, publishing and knowledge sharing, issues of reuse, ethics and equity. The Université Virtuelle de Côte d’Ivoire sees adoption and integration of DataCite DOIs as crucial to enhance research activities in Côte d’Ivoire. PIDs are a priority for deploying services for communities and the national repository in the context of implementing UNESCO’s Recommendation on Open Science. The project focuses on a campaign which aims to popularize and facilitate DataCite API integration. Tools, sensitization and advocacy activities such as a portal, tutorials, webinars, online training will facilitate the engagement of decision-makers, librarians, and researchers communities as beneficiaries.
Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium (ZULC), Zimbabwe
The project, led by the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium, seeks to create awareness on the importance of persistent identifiers when offering research data services in institutions of higher education in Zimbabwe. This will help to give the librarians an appreciation of the importance of persistent identifiers such as DOIs and ORCID when managing research data. A study would be done using ZULC as a case study to identify institutions that have established research data services. A workshop would be done with those offering research data services including the librarians, researchers, ICT departments, research offices in universities within ZULC.
Infrastructure
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia
The goal of this project is to establish a data repository specializing in motion capture (mocap) data, with a primary focus on traditional dance motion capture data from around the world. By developing a user-friendly data repository integrated with DataCite infrastructure, the project aims to enhance the accessibility and discoverability of mocap data for researchers, artists, cultural enthusiasts, and beyond. They also aspire to promote the preservation and study of the world’s rich cultural heritage through the use of mocap technology.
National Science Library of Georgia, Georgia
The aim of the project is the development of a national repository, where scientific publications, theses, dissertations, and researcher information can be collected. This development includes website redesign, creation of a repository policy, new research materials deposited, and DataCite infrastructure integration. Fifteen new universities/research institutions will use and benefit from the repository, which has governmental support to include as many beneficiaries in the future as possible.
Demonstrators
Centre National Universitaire de Documentation Scientifique et Technique (CNUDST), Tunisia
CNUDST manages a national repository for the research outputs of the Tunisian scientific community with currently more than 10,000 manuscripts (thesis and dissertations) of thirteen Tunisian Universities. This project will increase the awareness of DOIs and PIDs and lead to the establishment of a DataCite Consortium for Tunisian universities to enable DOI registration across all national repositories.
Eko-Konnect Research and Education Initiative, Nigeria
The project will build a repository for several national museums, integrating IGSN IDs as PIDs for the artifacts and other physical objects and samples available. The project will include the promotion of a national policy for the digitalisation of all museum-related items, the assignment of IGSNs to artifacts and other physical objects in Nigerian museums, and sensitisation of the Nigerian research and education community to inspire PID adoption. Globally, it will promote Nigerian indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage and lead to increased awareness and commitment to the use of IGSN IDs and DOIs by the government, higher education and research institutions to preserve such artifacts.
University of São Paulo, Brazil
This project addresses the lack of computational tools in Brazil and Latin America for synthesizing data related to greenhouse gases and climate change in the Amazon. It will deliver a software tool, curate legacy datasets, and conduct workshops for ninety researchers. The project outcomes include the integration of DataCite infrastructure, dataset curation, and researcher training, with the goal of publishing DOIs for their outputs in 2024.
What’s Next?
During 2024, we will be working closely with the awardees to support the successful implementation of their projects. We also plan to share updates from their activities and showcase their journey to improve equity and access to PID infrastructure in their regions.
Congrats and Thanks!
We extend our congratulations to each awardee and we are excited to work with you and to witness the impact of the awarded projects.
We also want to thank all those who submitted applications for the Global Access Fund. Your dedication to driving positive change in research has inspired us, and we look forward to finding ways to work together.
Last but not least, we want to thank the GAF committee and our external reviewers for their hard work evaluating and selecting the proposals.
In case you’d like to directly support institutions and researchers in regions where persistent identifier adoption is low and more underlying infrastructure is needed to realize the benefits, our call to support the Global Access Fund is open until April 2024.
Stay tuned for updates as we embark on this exciting chapter with our awardees!
Gabriela Mejias
