As biodiversity research increasingly relies on molecular methods, the need for open, FAIR, and globally interoperable biodiversity data infrastructures continues to grow. The initiatives support GBIF’s broader strategic work to expand biodiversity data integration and improve the accessibility and usability of DNA-derived biodiversity information for science, policy, and decision-making.
The first call, “Building pipelines for publishing DNA-derived data through GBIF”, supports the development of scalable workflows, standards, and technical pipelines that enable publishing and integration of DNA-derived biodiversity data through GBIF.
The second call, “Preparing DNA reference libraries for GBIF integration”, focuses on improving the readiness, quality, and interoperability of DNA reference libraries for integration with GBIF infrastructure and biodiversity data standards.
GBIF-mediated biodiversity data already support a rapidly growing body of global research, including applications related to climate change, conservation, invasive species, ecosystem monitoring, and predictive biodiversity science.
GBIF Sweden encourages Swedish researchers, institutions, infrastructures, and collaborative projects to explore these opportunities and help spread the calls within relevant scientific and professional communities.
]]>This work is part of an ongoing effort led by Britt Andermann and colleagues, in collaboration with the Biodiversity Data Lab and the Montejo-Kovacevich Lab, to explore how AI methods can accelerate the transformation of analog archival sources into analysis-ready biodiversity data. By combining high-resolution digitization with automated approaches to taxonomic name recognition and data structuring, the project demonstrates how large volumes of historical records can be processed more efficiently and published as FAIR data.
The dataset published through GBIF Sweden marks an initial outcome of this work and will continue to be expanded as the project progresses and further digitization and data extraction are carried out.
At the recent SBDI Days, Britt Andermann presented this work, highlighting how AI-assisted workflows can reduce the manual burden of transcription while opening up new possibilities for mobilizing biodiversity data at scale. Looking ahead, developments in areas such as handwriting recognition and large language models may enable even more automated extraction of information from handwritten sources, including marginal notes and annotations.
Beyond occurrence data, these archival materials also contain valuable taxonomic information, such as species descriptions and expert determinations. Future work aims to explore how such information can be extracted and linked to existing biodiversity knowledge systems, contributing to a more complete and connected understanding of biodiversity data across time.
This initiative illustrates the potential of combining digitization, AI, and research infrastructure to recover and reuse historical biodiversity data, helping to fill important temporal and taxonomic gaps.
https://www.gbif.org/dataset/459b5943-9370-42f2-8cd5-9c08f8aa5da4
]]>The workshop was organized within the framework of GBIF’s Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (CESP), which supports the development of skills, networks and infrastructure for biodiversity data mobilization. Participants engaged in hands-on sessions covering data management, Darwin Core standards, and practical workflows for publishing data through GBIF.
A key focus of the workshop was enabling participants to move from data preparation to publication. By working with both their own datasets and curated test data, participants gained practical experience in structuring, standardizing and preparing biodiversity data for open access. This reflects a broader goal of GBIF to mobilize the data, skills and technologies needed to make biodiversity information freely available for science and decision-making.
The training also highlighted the importance of open and FAIR data practices, which are increasingly central to both international biodiversity policy and Swedish research policy. Making data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable ensures that biodiversity information can support evidence-based decision-making and contribute to addressing global challenges such as biodiversity loss and climate change.
By strengthening technical capacity and fostering collaboration, the workshop contributes to a growing global effort to make biodiversity data openly available. Such efforts are essential for advancing research, informing policy, and supporting the implementation of national and international biodiversity strategies. GBIF Sweden remains committed to supporting partners in the region and looks forward to continued collaboration and new data publications resulting from this initiative.
More information can be found on the project webpage: https://www.gbif.org/project/CESP2025-002/biodiversity-data-capacity-building-in-lithuania
]]>Through the ASV portal within SBDI, researchers can publish metabarcoding data in a way that makes them accessible via GBIF, including assignment of dataset DOIs and increased visibility and reuse. This creates new opportunities for combining molecular data with occurrence-based biodiversity data and strengthens their contribution to both national and global research efforts.
The Swedish Metabarcoding Network is now inviting researchers and data holders to join the community. The network will support data publication, gather information on existing datasets, and identify needs and challenges related to mobilizing metabarcoding data.
More information about the network and how to get involved is available at:
https://metabarcoding.se/
The Director will lead the strategic and operational development of SBDI, with responsibility for long-term planning, coordination with partner institutions, stakeholder engagement, and representation in relevant national and international contexts. The role is central to advancing open and FAIR biodiversity data in Sweden and to supporting research, environmental monitoring, and evidence-based policy.
This is a senior leadership position for an individual with experience in research infrastructure, biodiversity science, data management, or a related field, combined with strong management and collaboration skills.
Full details about the position and how to apply are available here:
https://recruit.visma.com/spa/public/apply?guidAssignment=4dda4859-6da4-45f8-ac80-203ffeaf34c6&description=True&forcelocale=true
The Ebbe Nielsen Challenge is open to individuals and teams worldwide and encourages creative, data-driven solutions that address real-world biodiversity research, policy, or management needs. Submissions are evaluated by an international panel and assessed on their novelty, relevance, technical quality, and potential impact. Winners share a total prize pool of up to USD 20,000.
Participants may submit working prototypes, software tools, data pipelines, or other digital products that make use of GBIF-mediated data, either alone or in combination with other open data sources. Submissions should clearly describe the problem addressed, the approach taken, and the added value of the solution.
The submission deadline is 7 September 2026.
Further details on eligibility, submission requirements, evaluation criteria, and timelines are available from GBIF at: https://www.gbif.org/news/3DyM3tK5wgYipqyaHwG2c2/2026-ebbe-nielsen-challenge-open-for-submissions
]]>The award is presented annually to two early-career researchers, selected by an international jury coordinated through the GBIF Science Committee. Each awardee receives a prize of EUR 5,000. The 2026 recipients will be announced ahead of the 33rd meeting of the GBIF Governing Board, to be held in Oslo, Norway, in September 2026.
Eligible candidates must be currently enrolled in a graduate program and be either citizens of a GBIF Participant country or enrolled at an institution in a GBIF Participant country. Formal nominations must be submitted by national node managers or heads of delegation on behalf of eligible students. Each GBIF Participant may nominate up to two candidates. Students interested in being considered for nomination should prepare an application including a research summary, project description, curriculum vitae, and supporting documents, and should follow the process established by their national GBIF Participant.
The deadline for nominations to reach the GBIF Secretariat is 29 May 2026. For Sweden, the national deadline is 22 May 2026. Swedish nominations should be sent to gbif@nrm.se. Students, supervisors, and others interested in the nomination process or have questions are welcome to contact GBIF Sweden.
Further details on eligibility, nomination requirements, and the selection process are available from GBIF at https://www.gbif.org/news/2qFpkI7rwBNbMuSjn2rtae/2026-gbif-graduate-researchers-award-call-for-nominations
]]>Unlike a traditional scientific conference, Biodiversity Monitoring Week is designed as a meeting place for the full monitoring community. The emphasis is on transnational cooperation, shared infrastructures, governance, and practical approaches to monitoring biodiversity at scale. The overarching theme for the 2026 edition is Towards mass biodiversity monitoring, reflecting the growing need for harmonized, large-scale, and policy-relevant monitoring across Europe.
The program will be structured around nine thematic areas, covering terrestrial, marine, and freshwater monitoring; data management and monitoring infrastructures; mass monitoring approaches; governance, policy, and funding; engagement with the private sector; and capacity-building. In addition to plenary sessions and parallel discussions, the week will include workshops, poster sessions, networking opportunities, and field excursions.
Registration for BioMonWeek 2026 is expected to open in early February 2026.
Further information about the event, including updates on the program and practical details, is available at: https://www.biomonweek.eu
]]>NILS is one of Sweden’s most comprehensive landscape monitoring programs. Led by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), it combines field observations, transects and aerial-photo interpretation to track how forests, farmland, wetlands, mountains, urban areas and other environments evolve over time. Because the same locations are revisited in repeating cycles, NILS provides rare long-term insight into how habitats and species respond to land-use change, policy measures and climate impacts.
The newly published dataset contains presence-absence information on plant species from the NILS basic inventory. These observations come from hundreds of carefully selected 5 × 5 km landscape squares that together represent the full diversity of Swedish environments. By making these data openly available through GBIF, NILS enables researchers, conservation practitioners and students to explore broad questions: How are vegetation communities shifting? Where do certain species thrive or decline? What landscape features seem to support biodiversity resilience?
For Sweden, the dataset strengthens the bridge between national environmental monitoring and international biodiversity research. For the global community, it offers a well-designed, long-term resource from a high-latitude country where climate and land-use changes are particularly dynamic.
The dataset can be explored and downloaded at https://doi.org/10.15468/jxusk2. More information about the NILS program is available from SLU’s website: https://www.slu.se/om-slu/organisation/institutioner/skoglig-resurshushallning/miljoanalys/NILS/.
]]>Participants should submit short concept notes through the GBIF Grants Portal by January 19. Selected teams will be invited to develop full proposals in March, with final decisions expected in late June 2026.
The program supports activities such as mentoring between nodes, regional training events, and development or translation of guidance and learning resources. Funding requests can be up to 20,000 euros per project and must include collaboration between countries.
Full details and application instructions are available here: https://www.gbif.org/news/6eA91QZWaO8aGl0Si5Rglr/call-for-proposals-for-2026-capacity-enhancement-support-programme
]]>The Swedish version provides an accessible entry point for Swedish stakeholders who want a concise overview of GBIF’s national and global relevance.
Read the brief on Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16890979
]]>GBIF Sweden contributes to this effort by assisting with the mobilization and publication of vector datasets to GBIF - including VectorNet materials and additional national and regional sources - to increase findability and interoperability for research and surveillance. This work builds on our ongoing role in hosting and mobilizing vector data and supporting One Health use cases across the GBIF network. The VectorNet portal aggregates several datasets, including the VectorNet Observations database, and already features 14 vector surveillance datasets from EU Member States, with further expansion expected. The collaboration between EFSA, ECDC, and GBIF formalizes data flows that strengthen preparedness for vector-borne diseases and operationalizes recommendations from GBIF’s task group on biodiversity data for human diseases.
Explore the data portal and read more:
]]>Lena Thöle, Data Steward at GBIF Sweden, will present examples of how biodiversity data published through GBIF can be reused and combined with other open data sources to support research and innovative applications.
The event is open to anyone interested in open data and its reuse within academia. No registration is required, and the webinar will be held mainly in Swedish.
Read more on the Swedish Research Council website “Öppna data – en resurs för akademin”
]]>The election followed the agreed procedures for the region, and with her candidacy confirmed, Veronika will begin her two-year term on 1 October 2025.
In her vision statement, Veronika emphasized the importance of strengthening participation of Nodes across the region, with a particular focus on promoting GBIF within the EU and broadening engagement with new partners. She highlighted the need to support sustainable node resourcing, onboarding, and capacity building, ensuring that Nodes are well equipped to contribute effectively.
Guided by the CARE principles, Veronika is committed to fostering inclusive and ethical data practices, while promoting collaboration across thematic areas. Her priorities include increasing visibility and strengthening regional cooperation so that GBIF can continue to play a leading role in supporting research, policy, and society with high-quality biodiversity data.
We warmly congratulate Veronika on her election and look forward to following her work in this important regional role.
]]>ChatIPT provides an accessible interface for preparing and publishing datasets, handling much of the technical complexity in the background. The latest release introduces several new features, including ORCID login, dataset management, post-publication editing, and improved overall functionality. These additions make it easier for users to maintain control over their datasets and ensure that data can be updated when necessary.
The tool is intended to unlock data that often remain hidden in spreadsheets, contributing to a more complete picture of biodiversity at both national and global levels. By simplifying the publishing process, ChatIPT supports the wider GBIF community’s goal of increasing data availability and accessibility.
Researchers and data holders are invited to try out the tool and provide feedback to help guide its further development.
The newly released GBIF Science Review No. 12 presents summaries of 50 peer-reviewed studies that rely on GBIF-mediated data. Covering an impressive range of topics, these examples represent only a small fraction of the more than six new papers discovered and indexed every single day of the year through GBIF’s literature-tracking programme.
A special feature section focuses on One Health, underscoring how biodiversity information contributes to human and animal health research. The 12 highlighted studies cover issues ranging from mercury poisoning caused by illegal gold mining, to zoonotic mpox and schistosomiasis, and even a clinical investigation into inflammatory bowel disease. These examples illustrate the enduring relevance of One Health approaches in the wake of the global COVID pandemic and beyond.
For Swedish researchers and data publishers working through SBDI/GBIF Sweden, the Science Review provides both inspiration and concrete evidence of the impact of open biodiversity data on advancing discovery, health, and policy worldwide.
Download the full publication here:
GBIF Science Review No. 12 (DOI: 10.35035/6bn4-er73)
The initiative will focus on building skills for mobilizing and managing biodiversity data according to international standards, as well as developing sustainable workflows for data publication through GBIF. It will also foster stronger collaboration between institutions in Lithuania and the broader GBIF community.
Projects funded through the CESP programme play a key role in supporting GBIF participants to develop capacity, share expertise, and promote open data practices worldwide.
You will be able to follow the progress of this project on its page on the GBIF website: https://www.gbif.org/project/CESP2025-002/biodiversity-data-capacity-building-in-lithuania
]]>The results are striking:
The datasets are now fully accessible via GBIF.org and the Swedish Biodiversity Data Infrastructure (SBDI). With more than 3.4 million occurrence records, the IBA datasets represent the third-largest contribution from Sweden to GBIF.
“By making these data available on GBIF, we are empowering the scientific community and the public to explore biodiversity patterns among poorly known species” says Dr. Andreia Miraldo, associate researcher at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study.
The sampling efforts in Sweden were supported by more than 150 citizen scientists, underscoring the value of public participation in biodiversity research. In Madagascar, local communities played a key role in fieldwork, highlighting the importance of integrating local knowledge into global science.
This collaborative effort involved several leading institutions in Sweden, Madagascar, and Poland, including the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm University, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Station Linné, the Madagascar Biodiversity Centre, and Jagiellonian University.
Explore the datasets via GBIF: IBA-NRM-KAW-2017-0088 – All available datasets
Read the full article in Nature Scientific Data, DOI: 10.1101/2024.10.24.619818.
]]>A crucial tool in this global effort is access to open, reliable, and usable biodiversity data. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) enables exactly that, making available over 3.1 billion species occurrence records from around the world – with data being shared at a rate of 13.6 records per second in 2024.
GBIF by the numbers:
In Sweden, GBIF-Sweden is proud to be part of this global network, working to make biodiversity data from national museums, research institutions, and observation systems openly available. Through collaborations in initiatives such as SBDI, DiSSCo, and with universities, authorities, and natural history collections, we contribute to strengthening the national and international biodiversity data infrastructure.
Today, we thank everyone who shares data, uses it in research, education, or policy, and helps make the world’s biodiversity more visible and accessible.
Explore the data, contribute your own, or learn more: www.gbif.se | www.gbif.org
]]>This innovation makes it easier for users to ask complex questions, such as:
These queries can be answered efficiently through a simple API that supports SQL-based access to pre-aggregated data cubes. For example, a single API call can return a table with species counts by year and country, making it ideal for biodiversity trend analysis, reporting, and integration into scientific workflows.
You can explore the service and example queries on GBIF’s developer pages:
GBIF Occurrence Cube Service documentation
The service is currently in public beta, and feedback is welcome from researchers, developers, and policy analysts interested in scalable biodiversity data analysis.
]]>The campaign also invites financial support. Donations will contribute to developing research environments, enhancing public exhibitions, and securing the long-term preservation of valuable scientific collections.
As Veronika Johansson, Node Manager at GBIF Sweden, notes:
“Every specimen in a collection holds a story about life on Earth. When museums like Evolutionsmuseet digitize and share these stories through GBIF, they become part of a global effort to understand and protect biodiversity. Supporting this work means investing in knowledge that benefits science, conservation, and future generations.”
Learn more about the initiative and how to contribute:
🔗 www.biodiversitybeyondlinnaeus.com
Diseases such as malaria, dengue, Lyme disease, and tick-borne encephalitis are growing global concerns, with their distribution increasingly influenced by climate change, land use, and biodiversity loss. Access to well-structured vector data is essential not only for ecological and environmental research, but also for risk assessments, surveillance systems, and long-term health strategies.
This work aligns with the One Health approach, which recognizes that human, animal, and environmental health are deeply interconnected. Vector-borne diseases are a clear example of this interdependence, as they emerge from complex interactions between species, ecosystems, and human activity.
By hosting vector-related datasets through the GBIF infrastructure, GBIF Sweden plays a key role in making this information findable, accessible, and reusable. Recent contributions include:
“This work is a natural extension of our mission to promote open, interoperable data on biodiversity,” says Veronika A. Johansson, Node Manager of GBIF Sweden. “We see great value in bringing together expertise from different fields to build a more complete understanding of vector ecology and its implications for health.”
GBIF Sweden welcomes contributions from researchers, monitoring programs, and institutions working with vector data. Whether your work involves species distributions, seasonal patterns, or environmental drivers, your data can contribute to a global resource that serves both science and society.
Learn more about the connections that GBIF reveals between biodiversity and human health at https://www.gbif.org/health.
Want to contribute vector data? Connect with us at gbif@nrm.se and join a growing international effort to support One Health through open biodiversity data.
]]>“Making research data more accessible and reusable is essential for advancing science and tackling global challenges. Through Researchdata.se, we strengthen the infrastructure for open science in Sweden and ensure that biodiversity data, along with other research data, can be used to generate new knowledge and insights.” — Veronika A. Johansson, Node Manager, GBIF Sweden
GBIF Sweden and SBDI is part of Researchdata.se, an initiative launched by Swedish National Data Service (SND) as part of the effort to realise the EU’s and the Swedish government’s goal of open access to publicly funded research data. In collaboration with research infrastructures such as the Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Huminfra, InfraVis, NBIS, SciLifeLab, SITES, and Swedigarch, we contribute expertise and tools to support the research community in managing and sharing research data.
Researchdata.se will continue to evolve, with new features added to meet future needs. Would you like to contribute? Researchdata.se welcomes new partners, including research infrastructures and repositories, which are interested in sharing research data resources, training materials, and data management tools. For more information about collaboration opportunities, contact gbif@nrm.se.
]]>The course covers essential topics from project planning and sample collection to sequencing, data processing, data mobilization and deposition in open repositories.
The course is designed for junior and senior researchers utilizing reference genomes for biodiversity genetics research.
Topics and Instructors
More information and detailed program can be found at
https://training.scilifelab.se/events/best-practices-for-reference-genome-generation
In partnership with Knowit, GBIF Sweden is participating in a Hyper Island project where four students are exploring the question:
How can a partnership between Knowit and GBIF Sweden empower Nordic companies to make biodiversity data actionable and drive sustainable decision-making?
Running from January 9 to February 14, the project aims to develop communication strategies that demonstrate how Knowit’s clients in Scandinavia can utilize biodiversity data services developed by GBIF. A key objective is to support businesses in meeting their reporting obligations under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and, more specifically, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), particularly E4, which focuses on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Beyond using biodiversity data for their own sustainability efforts, businesses have an opportunity to contribute valuable data themselves. Sharing biodiversity-related insights—such as observations from environmental monitoring or ecosystem assessments—enhances the overall knowledge base, benefiting both industry and science. The more stakeholders contribute to biodiversity data, the more robust and actionable this resource becomes, ultimately supporting evidence-based decision-making at all levels.
Read more about this event here.
As part of its commitment to integrating biodiversity considerations into the private sector, GBIF Sweden has co-authored a scientific article titled:
“The Business Case for Investing in Biodiversity Data”, submitted to a special issue of Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
The paper outlines a framework and action plan for improving the mobilization, accessibility, and use of biodiversity data, ensuring that companies can effectively integrate ecological considerations into their decision-making processes. A key emphasis is placed on the dual role of businesses—not only as users of biodiversity data but also as data providers. By sharing their own biodiversity observations, companies strengthen both their sustainability strategies and the broader research landscape, fostering a data ecosystem that benefits conservation, policy, and economic development alike.
The preprint of the article is available here: https://doi.org/10.32942/X27W61.
Collaboration between businesses and the scientific community in biodiversity data has the potential to drive meaningful change—enabling smarter, more sustainable business models while also contributing to the long-term protection of natural ecosystems. By embracing both data-driven insights and open data sharing, companies can play a pivotal role in shaping a more sustainable future.
]]>The 2025 programme will provide two €5,000 prizes recognizing the work of two early-career researchers. Candidates receive formal nominations from either the national node manager or head of delegation, who generally select one master’s and one PhD candidate whose nominations are then forwarded to the GBIF Secretariat.
An expert jury coordinated through GBIF Science Committee will then select two award recipients from the pool of nominees. The GBIF Secretariat will announce winners prior to the 32nd meeting of the GBIF Governing Board (GB32), on 18-20 October 2025 in Bogotá, Colombia, and present their work at that meeting.
While the deadline for receipt of nominations at the GBIF Secretariat is 27 June 2025, the local deadline for nominations from Sweden is 13 June 2025.
Nominations are to be sent to gbif@nrm.se.
More information about the call can be found at https://www.gbif.org/news/4AAE2KOKBRJ0iS2DE2fT65/call-for-nominations-opens-for-2025-gbif-graduate-researchers-award
]]>Between now and 7 September 2025, individuals and teams can submit entries to this open-ended incentive competition, detailing the unique tools and inventive techniques they’ve developed or improved to increase the accessibility, quality and usefulness of open biodiversity data.
Challenge entries may detail newly developed functional prototypes, tools and techniques or existing ones whose capabilities and features have been improved or extended. Entrants can explore last year’s entries along with dozens of previous Challenge winners for inspiration on ideas, topics and approaches worth pursuing.
Read more at 2025 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge seeks innovations for open biodiversity data.
]]>The IPT serves as a fundamental platform for data publishers, enabling them to package and publish biodiversity datasets in a standardized format. By providing researchers with a robust mechanism to publish and validate their data, GBIF Sweden seeks to uphold data quality standards and foster greater collaboration within the scientific community. This initiative aligns with GBIF Sweden’s overarching mission to harness the power of biodiversity data for conservation, research, and decision-making.
The Test IPT is now available for exploration and utilization by researchers, trainers and stakeholders interested in contributing to the collective effort of building a comprehensive repository of biodiversity knowledge. For further information and access to the test IPT, please visit https://test.gbif.se/ipt/ or email gbif@nrm.se.
]]>This call aligns with the GBIF Capacity Development Framework. It focuses on enhancing the long-term capacity of participants to benefit from and contribute to GBIF’s mission to mobilize the data, skills and technologies needed to make comprehensive biodiversity information freely available for science and decisions addressing biodiversity loss and sustainable development.
Project proposals must target specific capacity needs identified by the participants themselves and be aligned with one or more of the objectives in the 2024 Nodes implementation plan.
Project proposals must be based on collaborative actions, led by a GBIF participant node, where the results will benefit the GBIF community. They can involve one or more of the following types of action eligible for support:
The maximum funding request is €20,000 per project.
Concept notes must be submitted by 18 June, 23:59 CEST (UTC +2) through the GBIF Grants Portal.
Read more at https://www.gbif.org/news/4XHudxoaMexjeqgdaejBBg/call-for-proposals-for-2024-capacity-enhancement-support-programme.
]]>The 10,000th paper, published in the journal Biodiversity, explores the effects of climate change on rhinoceros populations in Southern Africa. Authors Hlelowenkhosi Mamba and Timothy Randhir from the University of Massachusetts relied on species occurrence records from the GBIF network to model the future distributions of critically endangered black (Diceros bicornis) and near threatened white (Ceratotherium simum) rhinoceros populations in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania. Their findings suggest that temperature changes are likely to have significant impacts on rhinos, concluding that strengthened conservation strategies remain critical for the survival of both species.
Authors who cite the DOIs that GBIF assigns to their data downloads help create direct links between their studies and the data sources, enabling the attribution of credit to the publishers. The transparency and reproducibility of research is also vastly improved, as users can rerun queries from data citations. Researchers in Sweden contributed to 265 scientific papers using GBIF data during 2023.
Long-standing citation practices and personal habits have slowed the uptake of DOI-based data citations, but direct outreach from GBIF to authors has improved this significantly. Today, nearly two in three articles follow the recommended guidelines.
]]>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. Entrants can explore a suite of dozens of previous Challenge winners to inspire ideas, topics and approaches worth pursuing.
Entries should benefit multiple stakeholder groups, including data users, data holders and data managers. Entrants may also wish to review the current GBIF Communications Strategy to see how GBIF characterizes its audiences.
Winners will be announced in late September or early October 2024 at the 31st GBIF Governing Board meeting in Portugal.
The Challenge honours the memory of Dr Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen, an inspirational leader in the fields of biosystematics and biodiversity informatics and a principal founder of GBIF, who died suddenly just before it came into being.
Official rules: 2024 GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Challenge
Entry form: 2024 GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Challenge
The following summary of rules and requirements does not replace or supercede the official rules. Send questions or requests for clarifications to ENChallenge@gbif.org.
Submission deadline
- 14 August 2024, 2359 Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
Read more at gbif.org.
]]>The complementary missions of COL and GBIF are reflected in more than two decades of collaboration between the organizations. The Global Biodata Coalition has recognized both infrastructures as Global Core Biodata Resources. The partners have worked together to build ChecklistBank as a joint infrastructure for managing and delivering taxonomic data, which GBIF has hosted alongside the latest version of the Catalogue of Life website since December 2020.
ChecklistBank serves as core infrastructure for both COL and GBIF and evolved from GBIF’s internal “checklistbank” system for managing checklist datasets. GBIF developers have fully rewritten the new public-facing service into an open-access, enterprise-scale publishing platform and data repository for managing all the constituent sources of scientific names and taxonomy that go into the Catalogue of Life.
Development efforts are currently focused on preparing the first production release of an “extended” Catalogue of Life Checklist capable of replacing the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy later this year. As outlined in its current work programme, GBIF will begin work this year toward retiring the internal “checklistbank” database and replacing it with ChecklistBank. Upon fulfilling these first two use cases, GBIF and COL will turn their focus to refinements enabling other initiatives to use ChecklistBank, which may lead to additional needs and opportunities for cooperation.
Read more at gbif.org.
]]>With this two-day event we invite the Swedish biodiversity research community to come together and pave the way for data-driven research in ecology. It’s for everyone who wants to make use of the big data wave that is building up.
Symposium topics include big data research in macroecology, challenges for biodiversity data research and data driven ecology, machine-learning and artificial intelligence applications in conservation, perspectives on digital twins for ecosystems, and scaling up DNA-based ecology research.
Read more at biodiversitydata.se
]]>The 2024 programme will provide a pair of €5,000 prizes recognizing the work of two early-career researchers—preferably, one master’s and one PhD candidate—who receive formal nominations from the heads of delegation or node managers of GBIF Participant countries.
A jury organized by GBIF Science Committee will select two award recipients from the pool of nominees whose names are received by the GBIF Secretariat by 24 June 2024. The GBIF Secretariat will announce winners before the 31st meeting of the GBIF Governing Board (GB31) and present the winners’ work at the meeting in Portugal in October 2024.
Nominations can come from the GBIF delegation or node of either the candidate’s country of citizenship or the country of the candidate’s host institution.
Read more about eligibility, submission process and deadlines at gbif.org and contact GBIF Sweden if you are interested in nominating a candidate.
]]>According to the report, every €1 invested in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility yields €3 in direct benefits for users and up to €12 in broader societal benefits.
The report showcases the indispensable role of Biodiversity Data Infrastructure in advancing biodiversity understanding and emphasizes the urgent need for sustained support for global data infrastructure, enabling transformative research and conservation endeavors.
Read more about this news.
]]>Focus is on eDNA and it is synced with OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System).
Read more about the guide Publishing DNA-derived data through biodiversity data platforms.
]]>Until 22 September 2023, Pensoft will waive the article processing fee (normally €650) for the first 40 accepted data paper manuscripts that meet the following criteria for describing a dataset:
Read the detailed instructions.
]]>Between now and 22 August 2023, individuals and teams can prepare tools and techniques that improve the access, usefulness and quality of open biodiversity data and submit them to this open-ended, annual incentive competition.
Challenge entries can take any number of forms, as entrants may choose to develop new applications, visualizations, methods, workflows or analyses, often (but not always) making use of the GBIF API to access data. Entries may also build on or extend the capabilities of existing tools and features available across the GBIF network. We encourage entrants to review previous winners as well as previous winning entries for ideas, problems or approaches you may wish to pursue.
Entries should benefit multiple stakeholder groups, including data users, data holders and data managers. Entrants may also wish to review the GBIF Communications Strategy to see how GBIF characterizes its audiences.
Winners will be announced in October 2023 at the 30th GBIF Governing Board meeting in Canberra, Australia.
The Challenge honours the memory of Dr Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen, an inspirational leader in the fields of biosystematics and biodiversity informatics and a principal founder of GBIF, who died unexpectedly just before it came into being.
Read about rules and requirements.
]]>