For those just getting started on their FAIR-enabling journeys, FAIR-IMPACT provides dedicated guidance and one-to-one support to successful applicants from our three key stakeholder groups to self-assess their current capabilities and to develop FAIR implementation action plans: National Levels Initiatives, Research Performing Organisations, Repositories and Data Service Providers.
Successful applicants from each of the three stakeholder groups will work over a period of nine months with FAIR-IMPACT mentors and external experts to learn how to support the uptake of FAIR-enabling practices. This will include participation in a series of virtual workshops based on the FAIR Implementation Framework, assessed homework and one-to-one support. This call is suitable for those who are just getting started with supporting the FAIR Principles or are less advances on their FAIR-enabling journey.
Successful applicants will receive one-to-one support with dedicated mentors (financial support is not provided for this specific programme).
The 2nd Open Call is open! Apply now
Learn more about our Open Calls and read our FAQs
Second open call details |
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Promotional online workshops to showcase the support actions on offer - JOIN THEM |
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Call launched and platform opened for applications |
30 August 2023 |
Deadline for applications |
1 November 2023 |
Evaluation and selection of applicants |
End of November 2023 |
Applicants informed of decision |
Beginning of December 2023 |
Expected start date for support actions |
Late January 2024 |
2nd OPEN CALL - Timeline of Activities in 2024-2025
- During March, participants will work independently to carry out self-assessments, test the suggested tool(s) and develop draft action plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or ZOOM.
- During May, participants will work independently to test the suggested tool(s) and develop draft action and engagement plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or ZOOM.
- During June-August, participants will work independently to implement action and engagement plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or ZOOM.
- Exit interviews will be carried out in September and will be the basis of a co-produced FAIR Implementation Story summarising the key actions and lessons learned.
- Follow-up questionnaire and/or interview with participants 6 months after the support programme wraps up to see what progress has been made or what obstacles were encountered. (March/April 2025).
1. Support Programme for National Level Initiatives
Participation in this support programme will help national organisations and researchers to better understand the drivers for becoming more FAIR-enabling, to assess their current FAIR-enabling capabilities and develop plans for improvement, and to ensure that they have an effective engagement strategy in place to facilitate uptake at the national level.
This support program is open to all but especially dedicated to organisations working at a national level and researchers to build adoption of FAIR practices. National initiatives and mandated organisations are both targets and providers of the webinars.
The support programme will begin in January 2024 as a series of virtual workshops where participants will be introduced to key concepts that can support their journey toward becoming FAIR-enabling. As part of the programme, participants will carry out a supported self-assessment of their current capabilities and develop action plans to improve one or more areas. Participants will receive one-to-one support from FAIR-IMPACT over a period of nine months as they implement their action plans. A series of curated webinars will showcase specific tools and approaches that may help to implement FAIR in a practical sense.
Enabling knowledge exchange is a key objective of the support programme and there will be two workshops held in month six and month nine where participants will share their experiences with peers in the support programme. An exit interview will result in a co-produced FAIR Implementation Story that will be published in our Zenodo community and made available to help to share the experiences with the wider community.
The 2nd Open Call is open! Apply now | Check the recording of the online informative workshop for National Level Initiatives
Support programme for National Level Initiatives |
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Virtual workshops |
Duration |
Delivery of Workshop |
Workshop 1: FAIR national plans in Germany and Romania |
2 hours | 3rd week of January 2024 |
Workshop 2: Engaging researchers with FAIR-ness |
2 hours | 4th week of January 2024 |
Workshop 3: Open Access publishing in FAIR action plans |
2 hours | 1st week of February 2024 |
Workshop 4: Building FAIR skills at a national level | 2 hours | Last week of February 2024 |
During March, participants will work independently to carry out self-assessments and to develop draft action and engagement plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or zoom. | ||
Workshop 5: French Data Management Clusters | 2 hours | 1st week of April 2024 |
During May, participants will work independently to develop their draft action and engagement plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or zoom. | ||
Workshop 6: Assessing national current FAIR-enabling capabilities: |
2 hours | 1st week of June 2024 |
During June/July/August, participants will work independently to implement action and engagement plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or zoom. |
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Workshop 7 and 8: Peer knowledge exchange workshop |
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Exit interviews will be carried out in October and will be the basis of a co-produced FAIR Implementation Story summarising the key actions and lessons learned. | ||
Follow-up questionnaire and/or interview with participants 6 months after the support programme wraps up to see what progress has been made. (March/April 2025) |

2. Support Programme for Research Performing Organisations
Participation in this support programme will help research performing organisations to better understand the drivers for becoming more FAIR-enabling, to assess their current FAIR-enabling capacity and develop plans for improvement, and to ensure that they have an effective engagement strategy in place to facilitate uptake across the organisation. The structure of the programme is based around the FAIR Implementation Framework stages.
The support programme will begin in January 2024 as a series of ten virtual workshops where participants will be introduced to key concepts that can support their journey toward becoming more FAIR-enabling. As part of the programme, participants will carry out a supported self-assessment of their current capabilities and develop action plans to improve one or more areas. Participants should expect to spend about 25-30 hours attending the virtual workshops plus another 40-50 hours to carry out the homework. Successful applicants will receive one-to-one support from FAIR-IMPACT mentors as they carry out their assessments, develop actions plans and define engagement strategies.
Enabling knowledge exchange is a key objective of the support programme and there will be two dedicated workshops where participants will share their experiences with peers during the support programme. An exit interview will result in a co-produced FAIR Implementation Story that will be published in our Zenodo community and made available to help to share the experiences with the wider community.
The 2nd Open Call is open! Apply now | Check the recording of the online informative workshop for Research Performing Organisations
Support programme for Research Performing Organisations |
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Virtual workshops |
Duration |
Delivery of Workshop |
Workshop 1: Understanding the drivers and potential benefits from becoming FAIR-enabling |
2 hours | Late January 2024 |
Workshop 2: FAIR data policies - developing or refining data policies to be more FAIR-enabling |
2.5 hours | First week of February 2024 |
Workshop 3: Planning for FAIR Data - developing support services for data management planning |
2.5 hours | Second week of February 2024 |
Workshop 4: The role of trustworthy data repositories | 2.5 hours | Third week of February 2024 |
Workshop 5: Training and guidance - building skills for producing and using FAIR data | Fourth week of February 2024 | |
Workshop 6: Assessing your current FAIR-enabling capabilities | 2.5 hours | Early March 2024 |
Workshop 7: Developing a FAIR Implementation Action Plan | 2.5 hours | Mid March 2024 |
During the second half of March and all of April, participants will work to carry out supported self-assessments with one-to-one support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or zoom. Participants will work independently to develop draft action plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or zoom. | ||
Workshop 8: Peer knowledge exchange workshop |
3 hours | Early May 2024 |
Workshop 9: Developing an Engagement Strategy |
2.5 hours | Mid May 2024 |
During June/July/August, participants will work independently to begin to implementing their action and engagement plans. One-to-one periodic support from FAIR-IMPACT via email or zoom. | ||
Workshop 10: Peer knowledge exchange workshop |
3 hours | September 2024 |
Exit interviews will be carried out in late September and will be the basis of a co-produced FAIR Implementation Story summarising the key actions and lessons learned. | ||
Follow-up questionnaire and/or interview with participants 3-6 months after the support programme wraps up to see what progress has been made. We will also seek to learn about challenges and difficulties that have been encountered. (March/April 2025) |

3. Support Programme for Repositories and Data Service Providers
The FAIR Principles focus on characteristics of digital objects that make them Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Achieving and maintaining those characteristics depends on the individuals and organisations that create, store, curate, and preserve the objects. These activities are 'FAIR-enabling’, and repositories and data service providers play an important role in facilitating them.
FAIR-IMPACT is here to help you assess your current FAIR-enabling capabilities and develop action plans to improve them. The structure of our support programme is based on components of the ‘FAIR-IMPACT FAIR Implementation Framework’ (FIF), a curated collection of services and tools that can be used to become more FAIR-enabling. The services and tools address a wide range of topics, such as:
- Repository policy, e.g. ACME-FAIR, Data support policy for photon and neutron science;
- Making objects in the repository more FAIR, e.g. CESSDA Data Archiving Guide, FAIR Cookbook;
- Automated FAIR assessment, e.g. F-UJI, Framework for assessing FAIR services;
- Repository certification, e.g. CoreTrustSeal+FAIRenabling Capability Maturity Model, FAIRsFAIR repository support;
- EOSC readiness, e.g. EOSC Service compliance, DataCite Repository Finder.
We go beyond the formal FAIR principles and also include guidance for effective strategies to engage with your community and position your organisation in the research landscape. In other words, we are here to make your organisation more successful.
The support programme with selected participants will begin in January 2024 as a series of virtual workshops where we will introduce you to key concepts around FAIR and how they may apply to your organisation. Participants will carry out a supported self-assessment of their current capabilities and develop action plans that are tailored to their needs and ambition. You will receive one-to-one support from the FAIR-IMPACT support team over a period of nine months as you develop and implement your action plans. A series of curated webinars will showcase specific tools and approaches that may help you to implement the FAIR principles in a practical sense and you can do a virtual ‘sight-seeing’ at some of our partners, to see how they implement certain FAIR-enabling practices.
The 2nd Open Call is open! Apply now
Check the recording of the online informative workshop for Repositories and Data Service Providers.

Enabling knowledge exchange is one of the key objectives of the support programme. To this end, in two workshops in June and September participants will share their experiences with peers in the support programme. The programme will wrap-up with a personal exit interview that will result in a co-produced ‘FAIR Implementation Story’ similar to those created in the FAIRsFAIR project, which we will publish in our Zenodo community, to share the unique experience of each participant and enable networking with the wider community.
The minimum effort expected from participants will be around fifty hours for the whole programme. The actual effort will depend on the specific FIF resources you plan to implement and on input you may need from colleagues in your organisation. To benefit most from the programme, representatives from the participating repositories bring expertise in policy, engagement, and repository technology, split across a maximum of three people, if needed.
This support programme continues the successful repository support programme from the earlier FAIRsFAIR project, but with a broader focus on topics and wider range of resources that repositories can implement to increase their FAIR impact.