RDA Funders Forum

FUNDERS FORUM OVERVIEW

Full Overview document

The RDA Funders Forum, initiated around the launch of the RDA in 2013, is a group of funding organisations / representatives with an interest in research data and related data policies. Participation in the Funders Forum is free and not limited to current funders of the RDA, and is open to all funding agencies and organisations, both public and private, with an interest to attend and actively contribute. 

The Funders Forum, typically meet the day before the start of RDA plenary meetings, taking place in different regions around the world. The Funders Forum currently has two co-chairs who take responsibility for the organisation of the meetings, defining the agenda, structure and topics for discussion. Interested funders are invited to contact Bridget Walker, RDA Secretariat Funders Forum Liaison (bridget.walker[at]rda-foundation.org) who will ensure you receive the updates, meeting links, event invitations, newsletters, etc.

FUNDERS FORUM MEETING 

During the beginning of the Funders Forum meeting the RDA Secretary General provides an update to the funders on the strategy and activities of the RDA. This is followed by a closed meeting between funders focusing on different topics and information exchanges, the focus of which is determined by the funders themselves and the co-chairs. The co-chairs are currently Dina Paltoo, National Institutes of Health (NIH) (US) and Matthew Lucas - Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC - CAN).   Beginning in 2022, two meeting formats have been proposed; twice yearly in-person and virtual (hybrid) in conjunction with RDA plenary meetings (in the plenary meeting time zone) and 2-3 yearly shorter virtual meetings in different time zones.  For details of the structure of the two different meetings, including the areas of interest for discussion in 2022 and 2023 as expressed by the funders, please consult the RDA Funders Forum Overview. 

FUNDERS RDA INTEREST GROUP

During three plenary meetings Montreal (Sept 2017), Berlin (March 2018) and Botswana (Nov 2018), the Funders Forum organised a Birds of a Feather (BoF) meeting during the breakout sessions to interact with the RDA community and dialogue with data professionals on various different topics of relevance to them and RDA. The objective of these Birds of a Feather sessions in which funders from around the globe bring subjects that they wish to discuss publicly among themselves and on which they want to gather input from the RDA community. 

These questions were addressed during a BoF session, “Research Funders on the Topic of Open Research and Data Management”, Montreal Sept 2017, and during two BoF sessions held in Berlin (March 2018) “Interest Group for Funders and Stakeholders on Open Research and Data Management Policies”. In November 2018, the group organised a BoF in Botswana (P12) entitled "Research Data Management and Sharing in Low and Middle-Income Countries". 

There are currently few forums for research funders engaged in the open research and data management space to discuss their unique challenges, perspectives and opportunities. Creating a forum for research funders to initiate or further data-related discussions could result in lasting benefits for the research community (increased coordination, standardization and support) and the funders themselves in terms of avoiding duplication of efforts and building on existing expertise and resources. For this reason, the funders forum created an RDA Interest Group, to substantiate their engagement with the RDA and be fully aligned with the RDA principles of openness, and harmonization and being community-driven. It is a significant value-added contribution to the RDA community as a vehicle for open discussion of policy-driven topics.

For more information on the Interest Group see Research Funders and Stakeholders on Open Research and Data Management Policies and Practices IG

Update from the RDA Funders Forum - February 2023

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) Funders Forum initiated around the launch of the RDA in 2013, is a group of funding organisations / representatives with an interest in research data and related data policies. Participation in the Funders Forum is not limited to current funders of the RDA, and is open to all funding agencies and organisations, both public and private, with an interest to attend and actively contribute.

The RDA Funders Forum is chaired and co-ordinated by representatives from funding agencies directly. Since 2017, the Funders Forum has been co-chaired by Matthew Lucas Executive Director, Corporate Strategy and Performance, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Joshua M. Greenberg, Director of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Digital Information Technology program

From 1 March 2023, Matthew is joined by Dina N. Paltoo, Ph.D., M.P.H Assistant Director, Scientific Strategy and Innovation, Immediate Office of the Director (IOD), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH).

We are delighted to have Dina join the forum and are so very grateful to Josh for his expertise, time and wonderful leadership of the Funders Forum for many years. Matthew continues to support this very important group of stakeholders.

There are currently few forums for research funders engaged in the open research and data management space to discuss their unique challenges, perspectives and opportunities. Creating a forum for research funders to initiate or further data-related discussions results in lasting benefits for the research community (increased coordination, standardization and support) and the funders themselves in terms of avoiding duplication of efforts and building on existing expertise and resources.