Earlier this year, we welcomed 128 researchers to the third edition of the eLife Community Ambassadors programme – an initiative that helps channel and support the passion of early-career researchers in driving positive changes in science. Following an initial eight-month learning and community-building phase, we reported on the Ambassadors’ actions towards this goal, which included an invitation for them to work with the programme for this year’s Einstein Foundation Award for Promoting Quality in Research. This work involves helping to create an awards ceremony that will raise awareness of issues that early-career researchers face globally, and we’re pleased to share more about this exciting opportunity.
About the Award and partnership
The Einstein Foundation Award for Promoting Quality in Research aims to provide recognition and publicity for outstanding efforts that enhance the rigour, reliability, robustness and transparency of research in the natural and social sciences, as well as the humanities. Additionally, it aims to stimulate awareness and activities fostering research quality among scientists, institutions, funders and politicians. To acknowledge the outstanding role that early-career researchers have in promoting research quality, these researchers are invited to propose projects that foster research quality and value.
As part of this year’s award programme, the Ambassadors will hold an event on ‘Global Dynamics in Responsible Research’, in collaboration with the Einstein Foundation Berlin and its partners: QUEST, the Berlin University Alliance, and Oxford in Berlin. Six Ambassadors – Batool Almarzouq, Verena Haage, Renato Augusto Corrêa dos Santos, Samuel Eziuzor, Nalaka Wijekoon and Lamis Elkheir – are, on behalf of this year’s cohort, working to define the topics, speakers and format of the event. To help represent the most current and important topics for early-career researchers, the Ambassadors are currently running a Twitter poll to seek input from the community on the final topics and format of the symposium. So far, suggested topics include Open Science in the Global South and Capacity Building. Keynote speakers include Joy Owango, Founding Director of the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa), Chelle Gentemann, currently an IPA at NASA HQ leading NASA’s Transform to Open Science (TOPS) mission, and Professor Dr ChM Noorsaadah Abd Rahman, Chairperson of the Malaysia Open Science Platform.
The Einstein Foundation, the QUEST Center for Responsible Research at the Berlin Institute of Health and the Berlin University Alliance are helping the Ambassadors with funding, administrative support, advice and outreach efforts, while Oxford in Berlin will provide outreach for the symposium. The event will then be embedded into the final programme for the awards ceremony, which is taking place in Berlin on December 1–2. More information about the symposium and the link to register are available here.
An important milestone for the Ambassadors
This partnership with the Einstein Foundation Award for Promoting Quality in Research reflects the important work of the Ambassadors in creating change towards a research culture they wish to see. The symposium will give them an opportunity to share the perspectives of early-career researchers more widely, in turn helping them to raise the profile of their work. For the Einstein Foundation and its partners, it will provide a chance to hear from a global community of early-career researchers about their views and ideas around responsible research practices.
We’re delighted to be able to announce this partnership, and hope it will be one of many to help broaden discussions around the issues faced by early-career researchers and how we can work together to drive change towards greater openness, integrity and inclusiveness in science.
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