Global Biodiversity Information Facility 2019 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge Open for Applications

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), based in Denmark, is an international open data infrastructure that enables individuals from any country to access online data about all types of life on Earth. By encouraging and helping institutions to publish data according to common standards, GBIF enables research that has not been possible before and helps to better inform decisions to conserve and sustainably use the biological resources of the planet.

GBIF’s Ebbe Nielsen Challenge aims to inspire scientists, informaticians, data modellers, cartographers and other experts to create innovative applications of open-access biodiversity data. The challenge is an open-ended incentive prize, offering a fund of €34,000 for the development of tools and techniques that improve the access, utility or quality of GBIF-mediated data and thus contribute to advancement in open science.

The challenge is open to individuals, teams, companies and their employees, and governmental agencies and their employees.

Submissions for the challenge may choose to develop new applications, visualisation methods, workflows or analyses, or build on and extend existing tools and features.

It is expected that successful entries will provide practical, pragmatic solutions for the GBIF network while advancing biodiversity informatics and biodiversity data management in relation to the GBIF mission and strategic plan. A significant portion of the entry must be novel and developed specifically for the challenge.

Entrants are welcome to document and present their entries via any appropriate repository or website – GitHub, Dryad, FigShare, Open Science Framework, Jupyter Notebook, or their own website. The judges and GBIF Secretariat staff must be able to access and operate or review the submission at no cost, operate it on readily available hardware, and repeat any processes or routines (if the submission is a script or other automated solution).

Entries for the 2019 competition should be uploaded via the online entry form on the GBIF website by the deadline of 1 August 2019.

More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.