Deadline: 7-Sep-25
Applications are now open for the Ebbe Nielsen Challenge focused on innovative tools, both new and existing, that leverage biodiversity data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) network to advance open science in support of research and policy.
Prize Information
- An expert jury will judge entries on their relevance, novelty and quality to select a pool of winners to share a prize pool of up to €20,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Challenge is open to:
- Individuals
- Teams of individuals, with no limit on the number of people included in a team
- Organizations—including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities)—at exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry (“Organizations”)
- An individual may join more than one team or Organization, and an individual who is part of a team or Organization may also enter the Challenge on an individual basis. If participating in a team, the team must appoint and authorize one individual (the ‘Representative’) to represent, act, and enter a Submission, on their behalf.
- By entering a Submission on behalf of a team or organization, you represent and warrant that you are the Representative, and are duly authorized to act on behalf of your team or organization. The Representative shall act on behalf of the team to assume all rights and responsibilities regarding the challenge. If a team entry is selected as a winning entry, GBIF will pay prize money to the Representative, who will bear the responsibility of distributing the prize money to team members.
- The Challenge is not open to:
- Current staff members of the GBIF Secretariat
- Individuals currently under direct contract to the GBIF Secretariat
- Members of the GBIF Science Committee
- Heads of Delegation to GBIF
Judging 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 implementation: 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?
Submission Requirements
- Entries must include:
- Submission name/title
- Team member(s) names and affiliations
- Abstract and rationale (max. 1,000 words): The abstract should describe your submission, why it matters to GBIF communities, and how it intends to serve their needs.
- Operating instructions and relevant technical requirements (how does it work?)
- Link to intro video, screenshots and/or other visuals that demonstrate or describe the submission and its results in relevant form, e.g. prototype, demo, video, slides, et al.
- Link(s) to source and submission documentation on any appropriate website or repository
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.