The Ambassador Role - What Are The Expectations?

• An RDA Europe Ambassador is a recognised domain expert and skilled communicator, serving as conduit between RDA and the wider domain specific communities to which the Ambassador belongs.
• As an Ambassador, you take part in RDA activities and are supported to facilitate a 2-way communication and engagement channel: you will be talking to data practitioners and organisations about the work of RDA to disseminate RDA information via informal and formal channels; and you will make sure input from your domain/discipline specific community(-ies) is incorporated in the work of RDA and shapes its future agenda.
• You will make an active contribution to defining and promoting what RDA has to offer to discipline-specific communities. You will carry out ambassadorial work according to a detailed work plan that demonstrates impact for your community as well as RDA. You will disseminate work via discipline-specific and general RDA communication channels, including presentations, webinars, training sessions, surveys, articles and reports.
• Your mandate as Ambassador will start upon the confirmed successful selection and appointment and will be supported for the full duration of the RDA Europe 4.0 project (ending 31 May 2020). Ideally your mandate will extend beyond that.

Do You Match Our Ambassador Profile? As An Applicant, You Should Meet The Following Criteria:

• Working on the vanguard of data activities in a specific research domain or cluster of domains;
• Be involved in RDA as active member, participant, chair, or contributor to WG / IG activities, recommendations and outputs, especially in the past 12 to 18 months;
• Operate as an influencer and have the ability to recruit collaborators across different segments of the data community, particularly within your domain/discipline specific community(-ies) and your own organisation;
• Provide a plan for your ambassadorial work highlighting how it impacts not only your community practices, but will also make a significant contribution in the context of RDA. Make an active contribution to defining and promoting what RDA has to offer to your specific domain / discipline specific community (-ies) (e.g. presentations, webinars, training sessions, survey, reports, analysis etc);
• Be part of an active data community internationally and have a good understanding of the European Data Infrastructures landscape, including initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud; the FAIR movement; knowledge of the Open Science agenda, and how these intend to evolve in Europe;
• Reside/work in Europe.

Further criteria and conditions:

• Previous RDA Europe Expert or Early Career programme winners can apply.
• Members of RDA governance bodies (TAB, OAB, Council & Secretariat) are eligible for the Ambassadors programme but are required to make a clear division of roles and responsibilities.
• People working on the RDA Europe 4.0 project (e.g. Governing and Executive Board members, seconded personnel or those involved in delivering existing grants) are not eligible for the Ambassadors support programme.

There are multiple benefits to becoming an RDA Europe Ambassador:

• Grow your network, collaborate with like-minded people and organisations;
• Increase the impact of your work;
• Professional growth and recognition;
• Stay updated on European research data policies and global practices, current and future developments;
• Financial and operational support for your work;
• Ambassador certificates/badges/official acknowledgement;
• Leverage the group of RDA EU Ambassadors for knowledge exchange and sharing best practices.

Does this match your professional background and make you think of the many things that you could do for your community? Your application will be evaluated based upon the following:

• Your profile and a summary of your previous and current activities as influencer or representative of a domain specific community, with particular attention to data-focused activities/achievements in the Open Science context (20%);
• Statement about how your expertise and work with data and the data community in their discipline is aligned with the mission and goals of RDA (15%);
• A summary of previous and current activities demonstrating your involvement and contributions to RDA related activities, Working/Interest groups, development and /or promotion and/or adoption of RDA Recommendations and Outputs (15%);
• A work plan of activities to be performed as part of the Ambassador role detailing how the these will impact not only the community practices but will also make a significant contribution in the context of RDA. Reference Key Performance Indicators should be provided for macro-activities supporting impact assessment (35%);
• Wider engagement with other initiatives and/or national activities (and the national RDA node, if applicable) belonging to the European Data Infrastructures landscape, including initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud; the FAIR movement; and/or initiatives on defining and implementing the Open Science agenda at national and European levels (15%);

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

• Balanced Domain / Disciplinary representation (covering as diverse a range of domains / disciplines as possible)
• Geographical balance
• Gender balance
• Preference given to candidates in underrepresented domains within RDA
• Preference to candidates that have not already previously received RDA funding

Please review the current list of Ambassadors, their existing domain / discipline and country coverage, and attempt to complement these by filling in other gaps. Note that the goal of the programme is to have as wide domain and geographical coverage as possible. Applications coming from domains and countries that are currently not covered by Ambassadors will be favourably considered.

The RDA Europe Ambassadors programme will offer up to six grants of maximum €7000 each to support work time, travel, and other direct costs. Ambassador grant recipients will be contracted with the University of Göttingen. Before applying for a grant, we recommend that you make contact with management at your institution to ensure that you can meet any requirements or constraints for receiving external funding. In case of questions related to financial aspects of the Ambassador grants, please contact Katharina Mueller (katharina.mueller@sub.uni-goettingen.de).
What costs can be covered?
The following costs are eligible:

• Working hours as recorded in timesheets. For independent consultants or other persons not receiving a salary, rates will be calculated according to the EC rules for unit costs.
• Travel costs:
  • Flights, trains and public transport to attend meetings (Economy fares only)
  • Hotel accommodation where necessary; maximum rates depending on the destination (details available upon request)
  • Conference fee where applicable
  • Taxi costs are eligible if public transport is not available
  • No daily allowance
• Other direct costs where applicable, e.g. for organising events, printing dissemination material.

Only real costs, documented in receipts, without overhead, can be reimbursed. Maximum total costs covered will be €7000.

How will costs be reimbursed?
Successful applicants will be contracted with the University of Göttingen. At the beginning, an advance can be paid and real costs based on receipts will be balanced after delivery of all reports. To claim working hours, worktime as an RDA Europe Ambassador will need to be recorded in timesheets. A template will be delivered at point of contract. To claim travel or other costs, a reimbursement form will be provided and original receipts will need to be made available.

Interested candidates are invited to complete the online application form by 20 May 2019, 17:00 CEST Extended to 27 May 2019, 17:00 CEST . All candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application no later than the 20th June 2019.