Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Graduate Researchers Award 2023

Applications for the GBIF Graduate Researchers Award 2023 are now open. On behalf of the National Participant Network, the GBIF Secretariat is pleased to invite nominations for the 2023 Award. This annual program aims to encourage and recognize innovative research and discoveries in biodiversity informatics carried out by graduate students whose master’s and doctoral studies are based on GBIF data.

GBIF—the Global Biodiversity Information Facility—is an international network and research infrastructure funded by the world’s governments and aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth.

Award

• The 2023 programme will offer a pair of prizes worth €5,000 rewarding the work of two early-career researchers – preferably a master’s candidate and a PhD student – who receive official nominations from heads of delegation or managers of communication nodes from GBIF participating countries.

Eligibility

• Applicants must provide a letter of support attesting to their affiliation with a graduate university program to be eligible for the award.
• Applicants must be either:
  • citizens of a GBIF participating country OR
  • students of an institution located in a GBIF participating country
• Nominations may come from the GBIF delegation or the node of the applicant’s country of citizenship or the country of the applicant’s host institution.

Selection Criteria

The GBIF Scientific Committee will review the nominations and select the winners of the Graduate Scholar Awards.

The criteria for awarding the prizes are as follows:

• Originality and innovation
• The use and strategic importance of GBIF-accessible data
• Measurable effectiveness and impact to advance biodiversity informatics and/or biodiversity conservation.

Proposals that are not selected may be updated and resubmitted for consideration in subsequent years.

Nomination

Candidates must prepare their proposal and nomination package including:

• A summary of the research (200 words)
• A description of the project (5 pages maximum, Arial 12 points) that describes:
  • The need for the research and the question(s) it answers.
  • The role of data accessible through GBIF in answering these questions. Research proposals must clearly demonstrate how the study incorporates GBIF-mobilized data. Students who have questions about GBIF-mobilized data should work with their academic advisors, GBIF National Node, GBIF Secretariat, or Scientific Committee members to improve their understanding.
  • Research scope, design, methodologies, citations of relevant literature and timing.
  • If applicable, a description or excerpt from a data management plan describing how research-related data is published or will be prepared for publication through GBIF on GBIF.org.
• Curriculum vitae of the student applicant including full contact information for the home institution.
• Supporting documents
  • An official letter from the student’s mentor/supervisor certifying that the applicant is a student in good standing in the university’s graduate program.
  • At least one, and no more than three, letters of support from established researchers, active in a field that encompasses and integrates biodiversity informatics (e.g. genetics, species composition and traits, biogeography, ecology, systematics, etc.)

Students wishing to obtain a nomination should contact the Head of Delegation or Head of the Communication Node of a GBIF participating country, whether voting or associate (see full list). National participants are responsible for establishing their own deadlines and processes for receiving and processing student applications. Therefore, young students who wish to be nominated should consult the websites of their national GBIF participants or contact the Head of Delegation or Node Leader directly.

For more information, visit GBIF Award.

Deadline: June 19, 2023