6 November 2025

The World Data System (WDS) Scientific Committee is proud to endorse the recent statement from the International Science Council (ISC) and its Affiliated Bodies, which urges continued global support for scientific research and collaboration in response to climate change—one of the most complex and urgent challenges of our time. 

The statement highlights the increasingly difficult landscape for climate-related research, with funding cuts and growing pressures threatening the integrity and impact of scientific outputs. It emphasizes the importance of protecting scientific work, upholding integrity, and building public trust through inclusive, collaborative approaches. 

As part of this global call to action, the ISC and partners—including WDS—reaffirm their commitment to working with funders, governments, multilateral institutions, the wider science community, and the public to protect and enhance international scientific collaboration for effective climate monitoring and action. 

The World Data System, alongside the Research Data Alliance (RDA), CODATA, and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), hosted International Data Week in Brisbane, Australia, 13-16 October 2025. This biennial conference includes both the RDA Plenary and WDS and CODATA’s SciDataCon, as well as IDW plenaries and networking opportunities to bring everyone together. 

In total, 807 participants attended, including 704 onsite and 103 online, representing 75 countries, who participated in four plenaries, 107 sessions, and 130 posters.  

We are grateful to the over 300 people who submitted abstracts to SciDataCon, as well as to the 60 posters, 32 sessions, and 63 lightning talks that were presented. 

13 October 2025 

The conference started with Plenary Session 1 focusing on CAREFul Indigenous Data Governance, which was also the theme for the day. Session chair Rosie Hicks led an enlightening discussion with Alfred J. P. Lin, who focused on Taiwan Indigenous peoples, Niklas Labba, focusing on Sámi data, and Marcia Langton, who shared about the embedding of indigenous data governance in national research infrastructure.  

14 October 2025 

The second day featured Plenary Session 2, “Rigorous, Responsible, and Reproducible Science in the Era of FAIR Data and AI,” chaired by CODATA’s President Mercè Crosas. Highlights included Agnes Kiragga’s presentation on the practical applications of data science tools, Ana Arjona’s insightful call for deeper data validation in social science research, and Juliet A. Gerrard’s thoughtful reflections on navigating the interface between science and policy. 

15 October 2025 

WDS’s Reyna Broadhurst led Plenary Session 3, “Open Research and Federated Systems: Disciplinary, Regional, and International Perspectives.” The session featured thought-provoking presentations from Fiona Bradley, Marcel Garcia de Souza, and Bernie Pope. 

Fiona Bradley emphasized the importance of equitable access to knowledge, advocating for open research practices that benefit all communities. Marcel Garcia de Souza shared perspectives on open research and federated systems in Brazil, highlighting regional advancements and challenges. Bernie Pope provided valuable insights into genomics and data sharing, illustrating how robust infrastructure can empower open, ethical science across disciplines.

16 October 2025 

On the final day, we bid farewell to IDW 2025 with a closing plenary led by RDA’s Hillary Hanahoe, entitled “Data for Positive Change: Where to Next?” This inspiring session featured talks from the World Data System's Scientific Committee member Devika Madalli, Nokuthula Mchunu, Sandra Collins, and Rodrigo Roa—each offering forward-looking perspectives on harnessing data for societal benefit and charting the future of our global data community. 

We want to thank our sponsors who made this event possible: 

Those who attended the conference have access to the sessions in the app, while video recordings of the IDW 2025 sessions will be available on ARDC YouTube in January 2026.  Also, in January 2026, the slides from SciDataCon 2025 and the RDA Plenary 25 sessions will be available. 

And don’t forget, save the date for IDW 2027 to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, 20-23 September 2027 at the Cape Town International Conference Centre. 

The World Data System extends its heartfelt gratitude to Claire Rye, co-chair of our Early Career Researchers Network and regional champion for IDW 2025. 

Claire’s multifaceted contributions exemplify the spirit of innovation and collaboration that drives our ECR community: 

Claire’s tireless efforts have elevated the visibility of early career researchers, fostered new connections, and inspired future leaders in the data science world. We thank Claire for her brilliant work and continued commitment to building an inclusive, vibrant community. 

Please join us in celebrating Claire’s achievements. Her leadership sets a powerful example for all data science professionals. 

The World Data System was honored to present the 2025 Data Stewardship Award to Youhua Ran at International Data Week 2025. As a geographer specializing in permafrost mapping, Dr. Ran has systematically compiled a global dataset of ground-based permafrost observations and, through extensive collaboration and integration with remote sensing, developed new high-quality maps for the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and the Northern Hemisphere. His work provides a vital foundation for understanding permafrost distribution, assessing environmental changes, and supporting ecological conservation and engineering planning. Dr. Ran’s leadership in open data sharing and quality assurance—especially through the HiWATER project, national standards development, and service as an expert reviewer—has set new benchmarks for geographic science data stewardship in China. 

We were also delighted to finally present the Data Stewardship Award to Libby Liggins, originally awarded in 2019 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and office transitions. Dr. Liggins’ commitment to ethical data stewardship is exemplified by her integration of best practices, tools, and community infrastructures into her research in marine evolutionary ecology: 

 “I now see data stewardship and the advancement of tools, infrastructures, and community practices in aid of ethical data stewardship, as a part of my professional research practice alongside marine evolutionary ecology.” 

Congratulations to both awardees for their visionary leadership and transformative impact on global data stewardship! 

Now it’s your turn!

Applications are open for the 2026 Data Stewardship Award.

If you or someone you know has made outstanding contributions to advancing open, ethical, and impactful data stewardship, we encourage you to apply or nominate a colleague today. 

Reyna Broadhurst, Associate Director of the World Data System International Technology Office (WDS-ITO), was an invited speaker at the eResearch Australasia 2025 Conference, which was held 20-24 October 2025 in Brisbane, Australia. This conference provided an opportunity for delegates to engage, connect and share their ideas and exemplars concerning new information-centric research capabilities, and share how ICT technologies could help researchers to collaborate, collect, manage, share, process, analyze, find, understand, and reuse information.   

Reyna’s presentation, titled “Trusted Data Repositories as an Essential Element of the Research Enterprise,” discussed how WDS and repositories are mobilizing to increase their AI-readiness and to support federated systems, data spaces and downstream applications. Reyna also highlighted areas for improvement, featured promising initiatives, and emphasized the importance of coordinated and collective action. 

As part of our commitment to supporting our members and our 2025-2027 Action Plan, WDS would like to highlight your hard work! Help us promote your valuable contributions by sharing the details of sessions, posters, and exhibitions in which you or your repository or network will participate, either physically in New Orleans, or online at AGU. Please email wds-ipo@utk.edu with the date, time, session number and title, link, and location. 

For example: 

Date: Wednesday, 17 December 2025 

Time: 13:00-14:00 EST 

Session: TH33F World Data System Town Hall: Building Trustworthy Digital Repositories and Meeting User Needs Through Outreach, Advocacy, and Research 

Link: https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/meetingapp.cgi/Session/250098  

Location: 267-268 (New Orleans Convention Center) 

Please let us know by 2 December so we can advertise your session in our upcoming newsletter, to be released on 4 December. A flyer with all WDS members’ participation at AGU will also be distributed and shared in person and online at AGU.  

We hope to see you at AGU25! 

Xiaogang (Marshall) Ma, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Dean’s Distinguished Fellow at the University of Idaho, has been awarded the prestigious Charles S. Falkenberg Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU). A member of the World Data System’s Early Career Researchers Network and recipient of the WDS Data Stewardship Award in 2014, Dr. Ma is recognized internationally for his work deploying data science and artificial intelligence to advance cross-disciplinary collaboration and scientific discovery. His research spans complex systems in Earth and environmental sciences, data interoperability and provenance, and the visualized analysis of both Big and Small Data. Dr. Ma is active in leading data science and geoinformatics societies—including ACM SIGWEB, CODATA, ESIP, RDA, GSA, AGU, and IAMG—and currently serves as Editor in Chief for Applied Computing and Geosciences. His contributions have earned multiple honors, including GSA’s M. Lee Allison Award and the GSIS Annual Best Paper Award in 2024. 

The Charles S. Falkenberg Award, jointly sponsored by AGU and the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), honors early to mid-career scientists who have used Earth science information to improve quality of life, advance stewardship of the planet, and promote public understanding of our environment. Named for computer scientist Charles S. Falkenberg—whose pioneering work in data visualization enabled practical applications of Earth science—the award also commemorates his commitment to public engagement.  The World Data System congratulates Dr. Ma on this achievement, which reflects his ongoing impact on both scientific research and public awareness in Earth science.

Stellenbosch University (SU), one of Africa’s leading research-intensive institutions, is dedicated to advancing open science and responsible data stewardship across the continent. Through its suite of data and digital repositories that’s built on open-source infrastructure, SU demonstrates a strong commitment to transparency, accessibility, and the long-term sustainability of scholarly outputs. The university’s SUNScholarData repository holds CoreTrustSeal certification, affirming adherence to internationally recognized standards for trustworthy data management. Beyond technical excellence, SU actively fosters regional capacity by hosting workshops and training sessions on repository governance, metadata standards, and FAIR data principles throughout South Africa. 

The partnership between SUNScholarData and the World Data System is a natural fit, as both organizations share a vision for global best practices in data stewardship, open access, and equitable research infrastructure. As a new regular member, SUNScholarData brings expertise in building robust, sustainable repositories and a strong track record in capacity building—strengthening WDS’s international network. In turn, WDS membership enables SU to engage more deeply with the global data community, contribute to the evolution of standards and best practices, and amplify its impact on fostering inclusive, high-quality data services that benefit research communities across Africa and beyond. They joined WDS as a Regular member in October 2025. 

DR-NTU (Data) is the institutional open access research data repository of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), dedicated to curating, storing, preserving, and providing access to digital data generated by the NTU research community across a wide range of disciplines. The repository not only enables the download and sharing of research data but also actively develops and disseminates guidance for responsible data management, sharing, and reuse. Through its efforts, DR-NTU (Data) promotes open science and upholds research integrity, supporting a culture of transparency and accessibility within the academic community. 

DR-NTU (Data) and the World Data System share a strong commitment to advancing open science, responsible data stewardship, and global collaboration. By joining WDS as a regular member, DR-NTU (Data) expands its engagement with an international network dedicated to high standards in data management and sharing. The repository’s leadership in building a community of practice among Southeast Asian CoreTrustSeal-certified repositories brings valuable regional expertise to WDS, while WDS membership offers DR-NTU (Data) new opportunities to contribute to, and benefit from, evolving best practices and global initiatives that support research integrity and accessible, high-quality data services. They joined WDS as a Regular member in October 2025. 

The Astromaterials Data System (Astromat) serves as NASA’s official archive for laboratory analyses of returned samples from planetary missions and meteorites, providing a critical platform for the curation, publication, long-term preservation, and access to astromaterials analytical data. Astromat is dedicated to advancing scientific discovery by aligning its services with the FAIR Principles, ensuring that mission and research data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. By enabling the discovery and reuse of laboratory analytical data, Astromat maximizes the value and impact of unique astromaterials samples, supporting science, education, and society at large. 

Astromat’s membership in the World Data System reflects a strong alignment of mission and values. Both organizations are committed to fostering open data sharing, transparency, and global collaboration. Through WDS, Astromat will further facilitate the integration of astromaterials sample data across the international research community, support data attribution and research verification, and contribute to best practices in trustworthy data stewardship. This partnership strengthens a culture of openness in planetary sciences and enhances the reach and utility of astromaterials data worldwide. They joined WDS as a Regular member in October 2025. 

Earth Sciences Information Partners (ESIP), a partner member of WDS, has received an award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support their Repository Resilience project where they are diving deep into the resilience of data infrastructure and continue working to make data repositories stronger.  

This project will build upon the Repository Crisis Scorecards (RCS), produced by the ESIP Sustainable Data Management Cluster. The project team will produce updated tools and a white paper to provide repositories, funders, and policymakers with concrete steps to equip data infrastructure to weather future crises.  

If you are a repository manager, researcher, technical expert, policymaker, or citizen archivist, consider getting involved in this project. ESIP is looking for broad participation and encourages anyone whose expertise could benefit the project to sign up to join.  

The Principal Investigator, Joseph Gum, will be at the following events if you would like to get in touch:  

The CLARIN Technical Centers Committee approved the first CLARIN Data Citation Guidelines this September. These guidelines were developed by Martin Matthiesen and Jakob Lenardič and have been created to give CLARIN centers and researchers publishing language resources in CLARIN repositories a clear guide for publishing resources in a consistent way. CLARIN is a network member of WDS. 

The RDA Knowledge Base is now available on the Research Data Alliance (RDA) website. The RDA Knowledge Base is a suite of applications that helps users find, annotate, and publish RDA-related materials, funded by the RDA TIGER project. 

The UNESCO Ocean Project or Program Data Management Plan (DMP) Template has been made available on the Ocean Expert website by DMPonline and can be downloaded as a pdf. The DMP is based on the newly revised IOC Manual and Guide No. 99: Guidelines for an Ocean Project or Program Data Management Plan, and supports researchers and project leads in planning the collection management, and long-term preservation of ocean data.  

This DMP template is freely available, which helps sustain UNESCO’s commitment to ensuring that ocean data remain accessible, reusable, and preserved for future research and decision making.   

The EDEN and FIDELIS projects invite you to the 1st EDEN and FIDELIS Bootcamp, taking place on 19 November 2025 in Paris. This will be a half-day event and is a short walking distance from the RDA in Europe Annual Summit.  

The Bootcamp program offers presentations and interactive sessions on the current EDEN and FIDELIS work on the following topics: Core Preservation Processes, Specifications and architecture for long-term access and preservation services, User Journey Maps and pilot methodology, and a European network of Trustworthy Digital Repositories.   

Registration Deadline: 10 November 2025 

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) is conducting a global community consultation to identify priority areas where agentic AI can best support all stakeholders in the research ecosystem throughout the research lifecycle. This will build on the RDA’s previous collaboration with Microsoft Research, specifically the recommendation to invest in automated data preparation tools and improved data standards.  

Join the Information Sessions to understand more about the consultation, the focus of the activities, and hear from some global experts who are already using AI agents for their research and science: 

Additionally, RDA invites you to fill out the Global Community Priorities for Agentic AI in Research survey. 

La Research Software Alliance (ReSA), la Research Data Alliance (RDA), y la Red Latinoamericana de Ciencia Abierta (LA Referencia) colaboran para aumentar la visibilidad del software y los datos de investigación en la región de América Latina y el Caribe  

Hemos desarrollado una serie de webinars sobre estos temas. ¡Completamente gratis! La primera serie de webinars tendrá lugar el jueves, 20 de noviembre de 2025, y la segunda en diciembre de 2025, fecha aún por determinar. 

The Global Ocen Observing System is seeking experts for their Ocean Observations Physics and Climate Panel. This panel assesses the capabilities, gaps, and deficiencies of current ocean physics/climate observing systems. Other panel responsibilities and goals are outlined on the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) website.  

Deadline: 10 November 2025

The ISC has appointed a Steering Group to lead its Social Science Matters Program, which aims to strengthen the role and visibility of social sciences and humanities in sustainability policy. Community members interested in contributing can join the Expert Network by completing the online form on the ISC website. Participation offers opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and advancing social science engagement in policy discussions. 

The InterPore Awards 2026 is accepting nominations of individuals, honoring researchers at various stages in their careers, including the following: students, young researchers, junior faculty, rising stars, world-renowned scientists, and pioneers. 

Deadline: 15 November 2025

The IUPAC-Soong Prize for Sustainable Chemistry is accepting nominations to award an individual for a breakthrough or conceptual advance, highlighting the discovery rather than the laureate’s luminous career. 

Deadline: 15 November 2025

The ISC is offering three new opportunities to engage in the 5th International Polar Year (IPY-5): the global effort to advance polar research and cooperation. The engagement opportunities are: 

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) is accepting nominations for the Sarah Jones Award – 2026 Edition. Nominees should be individuals who have demonstrated an exceptional contribution to fostering collaboration in Open Science.

The impact can be organizational, community-based, or at the individual level. All nominees are welcome, not just members of the RDA community. However, a demonstration of a contribution to the RDA community is of importance.  

Deadline: 14 June 2026 

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) is seeking candidates for their annual Technical Advisory Board (TAB) election, being held November-December 2025. TAB terms are three years and participation from RDA members in all stages of their career is encouraged. TAB membership is a rewarding experience that offers the opportunity to engage with colleagues worldwide and understand the activities and visions in the field of FAIR data, open research, and open science.  

Deadline to nominate: 24 November 2025

Frontiers is accepting papers about the following topic: Linking Knowledge Across Borders: Science Diasporas and Global South Development. Papers submitted should explore the mechanisms, conditions, and impacts of engaging scientific diasporas in the Global South.

Deadline: 30 November 2025

eResearch NZ/eRangahau Aotearoa 2026, the leading conference for research communities in Aotearoa, New Zealand, will be held in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland from 10-12 February 2026 with the theme "Are you ready?" The event also features NZ Carpentry Connect as a free pre-conference event on 09 February 2026.

The conference is seeking abstract submissions detailing researchers’ successes and challenges, learnings and experiences, and how researchers are navigating topics like AI disruption, data governance, trusted environments, evolving research ecosystems, etc.  

Submission Deadline: 10 November 2025 

Two award categories are open for submissions for the ORCID US Community Awards: “Most Helpful” and “Outstanding Outreach Effort of the Year.”  

Who to nominate:  

Nomination Deadline: 30 November 2025 

For any questions, email ORCID US at orcidus@lyrasis.org 

The 30th International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR) conference, titled “The Bioeconomy Transformation in Transition: Past Successes, Current Challenges, and Future Prospects,” will take place in Ravello, Italy, 7-10 July 2026, celebrating three decades of pioneering research and global dialogue. Recognized for its influential role in advancing the field—47 of the top 50 articles in a landmark 2014 collection were first presented at ICABR—the event will convene leading experts to discuss innovation, policy, and progress in biotechnology and agricultural development. The upcoming program features keynote addresses from distinguished figures such as Nobel Laureate Dr. Riccardo Valentini and experts from IFPRI, Wageningen University, and Carnegie Scienes, along with panels on scientific integrity, R&D funding, and international treaty frameworks.  

They are currently accepting abstracts and encourage proposals that address the conference themes:  

Important Dates:  

Researchers working with language datasets are invited to contribute to a new Special Collection of the Journal of Open Humanities Data (JOHD), focusing on the innovative reuse of mono- and multilingual language datasets across the humanities. This initiative seeks to highlight diverse cases where existing deposited language data has been repurposed within research projects from any humanities discipline. Submissions may also describe how data reuse efforts have led to the creation of new datasets. 

Those interested are encouraged to submit discussion papers (3,000–5,000 words) that detail the reuse of one or more existing language datasets, ideally those created by others. All submissions should follow the Special Collection’s template guidelines. JOHD maintains an open access policy under the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, supporting the broad dissemination of knowledge while allowing authors to retain copyright and share their work widely. 

Submission deadline: 26 January 2026

The Language Documentation and Archiving Conference 2026, to be held 9-11 September 2026 in Berlin, Germany, invites those interested in joining scholars, activists, and technologists exploring new methods and technologies for documenting, preserving, and sharing the world’s linguistic and cultural diversity to attend and submit papers.  

The conference welcomes innovative and critical perspectives from both academic and community contexts. Although not required for your paper, the conference is interested in papers discussing the following themes: Relationships & Collaboration; Tools & Technology; Impact & Outcomes; Planning, Policy & Future; and Artificial Intelligence: Challenges & Opportunities.  

Submission Deadline for Abstracts: 1 March 2026 

The American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Association of the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), and The Oceanography Society (TOS) are collaborating on a living special collection that curates and showcases the broad range of solutions-focused research and capacity-sharing efforts that meet the Ocean Decade’s Vision: “the science we need for the ocean we want.”  

The collection will highlight ongoing scientific research and innovative efforts that contribute to achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda. AGU, ASLO, and TOS are soliciting papers that highlight and expand on the Ocean Decade's 10 challenges. The papers in this collection will then serve as a community-wide resource for shared understanding and informing policy decisions. 

Project ACCoRD (A Community for Contract Regulation for Data) is addressing the challenges that hinder efficient access, movement, and processing of data critical for groundbreaking research. By gathering evidence and forming a community, ACCoRD aims to develop a national research contracting framework in the United Kingdom. Through stakeholder engagement, the project seeks to identify best practices, tackle major challenges, and produce solutions to streamline data contracting within the UK’s Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI). 

If you are involved in research data contracting—as a data provider, legal expert, researcher, or institutional representative, your participation in the ACCoRD survey can help shape this framework and ensure your expertise is heard. The survey takes approximately 25 minutes to complete and offers an opportunity to join the community group driving this initiative forward. 

OpenCitations is inviting supporters, partner institutions, users, and anyone who has simply come across OpenCitations by chance to take their community survey. This survey is an opportunity to share your experience with OpenCitations, what works, what could be improved, and what you would like to see in the future.  

Your feedback will help OpenCitations:  

If you would like to subscribe to the first issue of the OpenCitation Newsletter, visit their website.  

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