DataCite is thrilled to launch the Global Access Fund (GAF), established to enable organizations worldwide to make their research outputs discoverable. It will provide financial support for both outreach activities and infrastructure development to enable organizations in regions and communities currently underrepresented in the global open science infrastructure landscape to benefit from DataCite infrastructure services. The GAF is part of the DataCite Global Access Program (GAP) made possible by Grant 2022-316573 from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
All about the Global Access Fund
As part of our 2022-2025 strategy, DataCite is committed to taking a proactive role in supporting communities globally to adopt our open infrastructure through a comprehensive and collaborative approach. In this context, earlier this year we launched the Global Access Program (GAP), which is based on three pillars: increasing community awareness, supporting and developing infrastructure, and lowering financial barriers to access. To help address financial, technical and communication barriers that may prevent organizations from benefiting from our PID infrastructure, we are delighted to launch the Global Access Fund.
DataCite’s Global Access Fund will enable a more inclusive research culture that values contributions from all participants, which is a fundamental component of open scholarship. CZI is thrilled to support this important initiative and hopes other funders will join in our efforts to strengthen the infrastructure that supports open research.
– Carly Strasser, Senior Program Manager for Open Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
The initiative was conceptualized by the DataCite Board, Member Model Advisory Group, staff and the GAF committee which consists of:
Mohamed A. Ba-Essa (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia)
Helena Cousijn (DataCite, Netherlands)
Britta Dreyer (DataCite, Germany)
Maria Lucia Lizarazo Rivero (Universidad del Rosario, Colombia)
Salvatore Mele (CERN, Switzerland)
Jamie Wittenberg (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
“This fund aims to boost access to research results by raising awareness and implementing infrastructure that connects the scientific ecosystem, breaking down cost and expertise barriers that currently exist in regions such as Latin America. We hope that it will have a very positive impact on the visibility of scientific production and the democratisation of knowledge at a global level”
– Maria Lucia Lizarazo Rivero (Universidad del Rosario, Colombia).
One of the major challenges facing researchers and scientists in the region arises from insufficient technical infrastructure and limited opportunities for sharing expertise related to scholarly communication. Hence, the importance of the GAF initiative lies in enhancing communication among research entities to transfer expertise, develop scholarly communication infrastructure, and build bridges between scientific communities, fostering collaboration, especially in underrepresented areas.
– Mohamed A. Ba-Essa (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia)
The Global Access Fund will allocate funding to projects in the following areas:
- Outreach and engagement activities (up to 10,000 EUR) to support increasing awareness and adoption of DataCite infrastructure. Activities in this area include (but are not limited to) capacity building, events, and content development.
- Open Infrastructure development and integration (up to 20,000 EUR) to enable and increase the adoption of DataCite infrastructure and related services, such as (but not limited to): repository, and other system development and installation, DataCite API integrations.
- Demonstrators (up to 50,000 EUR) as part of the the Global Access Fund, we’ll seek to identify and incubate three demonstrators across the regions in the following areas:
- Leveraging and implementing open international infrastructure services for the benefit of local communities. Awarded projects should create opportunities for local communities to take advantage of DataCite infrastructure to boost visibility of their research outputs and resources.
- Leveraging and/or establishing open local infrastructure services and communities. Under this theme, we would like to enable local organizations to connect existing local solutions to global solutions to facilitate the use by communities that currently do not have access to these solutions. This way, organizations and researchers can connect to the global research ecosystem.
- Facilitating indigenous knowledge sharing. There are currently many challenges surrounding indigenous knowledge recognition. Indigenous data and collections can be difficult to find , mislabeled, not properly attributed, or not searchable; PID infrastructure can help enable recognition for indigenous knowledge. The focus in this area is to fund projects that support Indigenous data sovereignty through DOI registration and metadata.
We invite all non-profit organizations (legal entities) across the research ecosystem (research institutions, associations, NRENs, government bodies, service providers, etc.) based in Africa, Asia, Middle East and Latin America to apply. Preference will be given to applications from countries classified as lower or middle income. All project outputs are expected to be made openly available under a relevant license.
How to apply and receive support
The call for proposals is open from September 1st until October 15. Join us for one of our webinars to learn more about the call for proposals, application and review process:
- Building more equity and inclusion with DataCite’s Global Access Fund, (In English) September 13 07:00 UTC
- Construyendo más equidad e inclusión con el Fondo de Acceso Global de DataCite (In Spanish) September 13 13:00 UTC
To apply please carefully read the call for proposals and complete the application form and additional supporting documents. Should you require additional support, please contact:
We look forward to receiving applications and hope this initiative will help organizations globally benefit from DataCite infrastructure!
Gabriela Mejias
