Applications open for Ebbe Nielsen Challenge 2024

Between now and 14 August 2024, individuals and teams can prepare tools and techniques that improve the access, quality and usefulness of open biodiversity data by submitting them to this open-ended competition.

Entrants may submit tools and techniques for use in biodiversity-related research and decision-making that they develop or improve to respond to the Challenge. Entries may build new tools or extend the capabilities of existing ones with new features.

Prize Information

• The 2023 Challenge will award up to €20,000 for submissions whose features, tools and techniques advance open science and improve the access, utility or quality of GBIF-mediated data.
• The Judges will provide the Administrator with recommendations on the final number of winners and size of prizes, subject to the Administrator’s final determination.

What to Create?

• The 2024 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge is deliberately open-ended, so entrants have a broad remit for creating tools and techniques that advance in open science and improve the access, utility or quality of GBIF-mediated data. Challenge submissions may be new applications, visualization methods, workflows or analyses, or they build on and extend existing tools and features.
• Each submission must include both a video demonstration and a written description
• The video must demonstrate the use of the system and include explanations of inputs, process and outputs.
• The written description must address the innovation and impact of the system, including the goals of the development, the tools used, and the ways that GBIF data is used by the system.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Challenge is open to individuals, teams of individuals, companies and their employees, and governmental agencies and their employees.
• The Challenge is not open to:
  • Current staff members at the GBIF Secretariat
  • Individuals currently contracting directly with the GBIF Secretariat
  • Members of the GBIF Science Committee
  • Heads of Delegation to GBIF

Evaluation Criteria

• A panel of expert judges from relevant scientific, informatics and technology domains will evaluate submissions based on the following criteria:
  • Applicability: Does the Submission have sufficient relevance and scope that the communities GBIF support can use or build it?
  • Benefit for GBIF network: Is there an added value of the submission for GBIF and how important/what kind of added value is it (new data, new community, new tools, outreach, policy briefing, etc.)?
  • Innovation/Novelty: How new/unique is the Submission’s contribution? Are there similar developments on the market (may be less user friendly)? Has a significant portion of the Submission been developed specifically for the Challenge/is strongly related to the Challenge?
  • Quality of implemetation: Does the Submission work reliably, is the technical implementation well done are the tools and services well described?
  • Openness and repeatability: Are the constituent elements of the Submission, like code and content, freely available and transparent? Are they appropriately licensed?

Language Requirements

• All submission materials must be in English or, if not in English, the Maker must provide an English translation of the demonstration video, text description, and testing instructions as well as all other materials submitted.

For more information, visit GBIF.