FAIR-IMPACT Open calls for support

In recent years, a number of tools, solutions and approaches have been developed to help different stakeholders implement the FAIR principles. Many of these have been developed through European Commission supported activities such as the regional and thematic INFRAEOSC projects and international initiatives such as the Research Data Alliance.

It can be challenging to know which tools and/or approaches to use for different purposes and how they should be implemented most effectively. To help take some of the guesswork out of implementing FAIR, the FAIR-IMPACT project will provide a set of clearly defined support actions that will help successful applicants learn how to use specific tools/methods/approaches which will help them start (or continue) their journey to becoming more FAIR-enabling and active contributors to the European Open Science Cloud.

FAIR-IMPACT Open Calls for support

Each of the defined support actions will provide dedicated guidance and assistance to a cohort of selected applicants on implementing one or more tools and approaches. There will be at least three open calls for participation in the defined support actions over the lifetime of the FAIR-IMPACT project.

Support to FAIR Implementation What we will provide to successful participants for each support action:

A dedicated, tailored support package, including virtual workshops, expert guidance and advice from FAIR-IMPACT project partners and resource providers to enable participants to implement the particular tool or approach.
Financial support to enable participation, payable by invoice upon successful completion of the support action.¹ The exact amount of the financial support that will be provided will vary across the support actions as it is based on the number of days required to participate. In most cases, participation in support actions will require between 5-10 days of effort from participants spread over a 1-2 month period. Funds may be used solely for supporting staff time to carry out relevant support action activities (participating in the virtual webinars, carrying out homework, completing exit questionnaire and/or interview, etc.).
The opportunity to share their knowledge and learn from their peers through the virtual workshops.
The opportunity to promote their work via a published FAIR-IMPACT Implementation Story.

In their application, we expect applicants to clearly demonstrate the following:

Readiness to implement, adopt, extend or use the specific tool or approach.
Willingness to participate in the required workshops, hackathons and/or meetings that will be outlined in the specific support action offer. All workshops, events and meetings will be held virtually.
Confirmation that the participant(s) meet the personnel specifications outlined in the specific support action call (for example, the ability to progress the outcomes of the support action within the organisation, technical expertise, etc.).
Willingness to participate in periodic follow up questionnaires and/or interviews.
Willingness to participate in an exit interview within a month after the end of the support action which will be used to draft a FAIR-IMPACT Implementation Story.

31st March 2023: the two first support actions launched

Applicants will be able to apply to join the first two support actions, which are designed to enhance the FAIRness of data, semantic artefacts and data-related services from March 31st, 2023, through our grants platform. For a brief summary of the open call and details on the first two support offers, please read this blog post. Detailed information about each of the support offers is provided below. On March 27, FAIR-IMPACT hosted a webinar to introduce potential applicants to the open call and to provide details about the two support actions on offer.

Are you thinking about submitting an application? If so, please join the FAIR-IMPACT webinar informal Virtual Clinic on May 16th from 15:00-16:00 CEST. During the clinic, you’ll have the chance to ask the FAIR-IMPACT team any questions you have about the support actions, eligibility, and the application process.

The support actions

#1: FAIRness assessment challenge

More harmonised use of semantic artefacts such as ontologies, terminologies, taxonomies, thesauri, vocabularies, metadata schemas and standards is a key element to achieving a high level of FAIRness. However, it can often be difficult to find and use semantic artefacts as they themselves are not always FAIR.

This targeted support action will help a cohort of dataset providers or semantic artefact developers to self-assess and work towards maximising the level of FAIRness of their resources. Successful applicants will be supported to employ a variety of assessment tools and methods, including F-UJI, O’FAIRe and FOOPS. FAIR-IMPACT mentors will provide guidance and advice on how to interpret their scores and to improve the overall FAIRness of their resources. The duration of effort required, including attendance at mandatory virtual workshops and completing the assigned ‘homework’, will be approximately five days.

The Call is now closed

#2: Enabling FAIR Signposting and RO-Crate for content/metadata discovery and consumption

The findability of both data and metadata is central to the FAIR principles. In this support action, FAIR-IMPACT will provide a method to increase the discoverability of the metadata and content. It will do so using a combination of two approaches; RO-Crate and Signposting. These two approaches are being used in combination as a pragmatic approach to making digital scholarly/research objects more FAIR. The duration of effort required to take part in this one will be five days of effort over a one-month period, again most likely in early autumn 2023.

The Call is now closed

Timeline for first open call
Promotional webinar to showcase the support actions on offer	27 March 2023 - watch a recording of the webinar HERE
Call launched and platform opened for applications	31 March 2023
Virtual clinic for potential applicants	16 May - Watch the recordings
Deadline for applications	1 June 2023
Evaluation and selection of applicants	End of June 2023
Applicants informed of decision	Beginning of July 2023
Expected start date for support actions	The start date will vary depending on the specific support action. However we anticipate that these will begin in autumn 2023.

Who can apply?

This call is open to individuals, groups and organisations from public and private research-performing organisations, including:

Research-performing organisations and research infrastructures;
Repositories, data and metadata service providers;
Representatives of national and international level initiatives.

Applicants must reside and/or work in an EU or Associated Country for the duration of the grant. A key aim for FAIR-IMPACT is to prioritise support for organisations, groups, and/or individuals based in countries or representing domains that are currently less advanced in terms of their FAIR enabling capacity².

The call is not open to individuals or groups based at any of the FAIR-IMPACT project partner organisations nor to individuals who hold the status of FAIR Champions under FAIR-IMPACT.

UPDATE: Please note that as part of this open call, FAIR-IMPACT is bound to adhere to the ‘Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022 on measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary’, which places restrictions on which Hungarian entities can become a beneficiary of European Commission-funded projects. Please see the European Commission FAQs on the Decision here.

To register your interest in the open calls and to receive updates as details of the support actions on offer are released, the dates of the promotional webinars on what each support action will provide and application deadlines, please enter your details below.

1st Open Call webinar

Watch the recording of the webinar organised on 27 March 2023

If you have any questions about the support actions and open calls please contact opencalls[at]fair-impact.eu.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How can I/my organisation apply to this Open Call?

To apply, you and/or your organisation must comply with criteria concerning your eligibility to receive funding, outline how your chosen support action aligns with your work, and confirm that you have the relevant expertise needed to implement the support action.

Your proposal will need to be submitted using the TRUST-Grants platform being used by the FAIR-IMPACT project. If you do not already have a FAIR-IMPACT website account, you will need to create one first to access the Open Call dashboard in the platform. You can save a draft of your Open Call application and return to it at a later date if necessary.

Q2. What information is needed as part of my application?

As part of your application for the Open Call you will be asked to provide:

Your name, contact details and organisational affiliation. Where the application is being made on behalf of a group, a nominated lead participant will need to provide these details;
The type of organisation you are based at; The country you are based in;
The support action you are selecting.

In addition to this information, we expect you to clearly demonstrate the following:

Willingness to participate in the required workshops, hackathons and meetings that are outlined as part of the specific support action (these will be held virtually);
How your chosen support action will aid or align with your work. This will be in the form of a short statement on how your participation in the given support action will benefit your organisation and how you plan to build on the outcomes;
Confirmation that you meet the person specifications outlined in the specific support action description (for example, the ability to progress the outcomes of the support action within the organisation, technical expertise, etc.);
Willingness to participate in an exit interview within a month after the end of the support action which will be used to draft a FAIR-IMPACT Implementation Story;
Willingness to participate in periodic follow up questionnaires and/or interviews.

Q3. What will FAIR-IMPACT provide for each support action?

FAIR-IMPACT will provide a dedicated, tailored support package including virtual workshops, expert guidance, and advice from FAIR-IMPACT project partners and resource providers, to enable successful applicants to implement a particular tool(s) or approach.

FAIR-IMPACT will also provide financial support of up to a maximum of 10.000 EUR to successful applicants to enable their participation, payable by invoice to the individual or their organisation upon successful completion of the support action. Each support offer will make clear the amount of financial support being made available to successful applicants. The exact amount of the financial support will vary across the support actions as it is calculated using a standard day rate of 500 EUR against the effort required to carry out the work. The maximum amount of effort required to participate in any support offer will not exceed 20 days over a period of a maximum of four months. In most cases, we anticipate that the number of days required to participate in support offers will be between 5-10 days for participants over a 1-2 month period. Funds may be used solely for supporting staff time to carry out the support offer activities. The funds may not be used to support travel, catering or purchasing of equipment.

We welcome applications from teams, but it is important to note that the funding provided is based on the number of days required to complete the action rather than the number of people involved. For example, a successful application with one member of staff taking part will receive the same amount as a successful application from a team with four members of staff taking part. Financial support will be payable by invoice to the FAIR-IMPACT project coordinator (KNAW-DANS) upon successful completion of the support action and participation in an exit interview.

Q4. What are my/my organisation’s contractual obligations during and after the receipt of the grant?

Financial support to third parties (grantees) raises the following contractual obligations:

Prevention of Conflict of interest;
Confidentiality and security;
Ethics and values;
Visibility;
Information, and;
Record-keeping.

Under FAIR-IMPACT’s obligations to its funder, concerned with checks, reviews, audits and investigations, certain bodies (i.e., the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), and the European Court of Auditors (ECA)) can also exercise their rights towards the recipients of funding from FAIR-IMPACT.

The above are in line with the European Commission’s rules for providing support to third parties. Full information on all of the above will be contained in the contracts issued to successful applicants.

Q5. What types of support actions will be offered?

The FAIR-IMPACT project is working to refine or augment a number of current and emerging FAIR-enabling approaches and solutions with our integrated use case partners. Below is a list of example support offers that may be developed over the life of the project (this list will be refined and updated with details as the offers are defined):

FAIRness assessment challenge for datasets and semantic artefacts;
Enabling FAIR Signposting and RO-Crate for content/metadata discovery and consumption;
Implementing specifications of shared metadata descriptions of semantic artefacts and their catalogues;
Testing guidelines for creating a user-tailored EOSC-compliant Persistent Identifiers policy;
Applying FAIR-enabling guidelines for research software within EOSC;
Implementing components of a metadata schema designed to improve legal interoperability.

Q6. Can I propose my own specific tools, approaches or solutions for inclusion in this Open Call for Support?

You cannot propose tools or solutions to be supported through this or any future Open Calls for Support. The FAIR-IMPACT Open Call for support will provide a list of clearly defined support actions which will employ specific tools, approaches and solutions. Through these Open Calls, support will be available for these specific tools, approaches and solutions only.

FAIR-IMPACT will also later be running an Open Call for in-kind support, where Research Performing Organisation (RPOs), repositories, data service providers, and national-level initiatives will have the opportunity to be supported in the self-assessment of FAIR-enabling practices and the co-development of FAIR implementation action plans. Details of this in-kind support programme will be made available via the FAIR-IMPACT website in due course. The expected date for the start of the Open Call for in-kind support is in the second half 2023.

Q7. Can I apply for other FAIR-IMPACT Open Calls?

FAIR-IMPACT will be launching multiple Open Calls over the project’s lifespan. These will include:

Three Open Calls for participation in support actions;
An Open Call for in-kind support (taking place in the second half 2023).

Neither the Open Calls for participation in support actions nor any of the other calls is open to individuals or groups based at any of the FAIR-IMPACT project partner organisations, nor to individuals who hold the status of FAIR Champions under FAIR-IMPACT. In addition, those who have been appointed as FAIR Champions themselves cannot benefit from financial or in-kind support.

FAIR-IMPACT will employ a transparent selection process and aims to ensure that a diverse pool of applicants are selected. Though applicants can apply for multiple support actions under FAIR-IMPACT, the selection process will take action to ensure that as broad and diverse a pool of candidates as possible is selected, while not jeopardising quality. In cases where there is indication of conflict of interest or double-funding, the applications will be rejected.

Q8. How will applications be evaluated?

Applications for support will be evaluated by a panel of internal FAIR-IMPACT partners. Mechanisms will be in place to ensure there are no conflicts of interest among panel members reviewing each proposal. Only those proposals that are assessed as having credible plans for leveraging the outcomes of their participation in their organisations will be considered.

Evaluation will also consider the following criteria to establish balanced and diverse distribution of the grants:

Geographical balance;
Balance between key stakeholder groups (i.e., Service providers, National level initiatives, Research communities & infrastructures, Research performing organisations, Individuals in science, Research funding organisations, Publishers, Data infrastructures, Citizen science organisations, Scientific societies and academies);
Gender balance;
Preference will be given to applicants from areas/domains identified as being less ‘EOSC-ready’*;

The first of the three Open Calls for support will be launched at the beginning of April 2023 with the deadline for applications on 1 June 2023. Applications will not be evaluated before this date. We aim to inform applicants of the decision on their applications by July 2023. The start dates will vary depending on the specific support action and will be indicated in the call description. However, we anticipate that these will begin in early autumn 2023 with indicative dates included in each of the support offers. The second round of Open Calls will take place in 2024, with the third and final round in 2025.

Preference will be given to applicants from areas/domains identified as being less ‘EOSC-ready’

*EOSC readiness will be judged according to the EOSC Executive Landscape Working Group report on 'Landscape of EOSC-related infrastructures and initiatives' (https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/cbb40bf3-f6fb-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1) and the RDA4EOSC project research on the engagement of disciplinary research communities with the EOSC (https://www.rd-alliance.org/rda4eosc-researchcommunities).

Q9. What are Implementation Stories?

All participants in the Open Call for Support will contribute to the production of an Implementation Story describing their experience of taking part in the support action. These will be based on exit interviews and drafted by FAIR-IMPACT partners. Implementation Stories share useful insights and tips that can help others to become more FAIR-enabling. These will be made available via the FAIR FAIR-IMPACT Zenodo community.

Implementation Stories were originally developed as part of the FAIRsFAIR project; they illustrate good practices in research communities and organisations to support the implementation of the FAIR principles. Links to the FAIRsFAIR Implementation Stories can be found on the FAIRsFAIR website.

Q10. Where can I get more information on the Open Calls for Support?

If you would like further information on the Open Calls for Support, or have any questions on the overall process please contact opencalls@fair-impact.eu.

We will offer a webinar in late March 2023 to introduce the Open Call process and the two support actions being offered under the first Open Call. Details on the webinar will be added to this page when they are confirmed. The best way to keep up to date with details for all Open Calls for support as they are released is to submit an Expression of Interest in the form above, including your contact details. Signing up to receive communications from FAIR-IMPACT on the project website will also allow you to keep up to date on all the news, activities and calls in the project https://fair-impact.eu/join-fair-impact-community

¹ The exact amount of the financial support might vary across the support actions as it is calculated using a standard day rate of 500 EUR against the estimated effort required to carry out the work. This equates to a maximum of 20 days of financial support per grant over an implementation period of maximum four months.

² FAIR-enabling capacity to be measured against work conducted by EOSC Landscape Task force, who have provided a baseline for EOSC-readiness at the country level (see: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/95e4a900-2a21-11eb-9d7e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en) and the RDA4EOSC project, who have published a comparison and summary findings to provide a baseline for EOSC-readiness at the domain level (see: https://www.rd-alliance.org/rda4eosc-researchcommunities).

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FAIR-IMPACT Open calls for support