Researchers are central to everything we do at ORCID, and we are looking for researchers to join our Board and—for the first time ever—our newly created ORCID Researcher Advisory Council. Are you interested in providing oversight at the Board-level or giving your feedback as a member of our Advisory Council? Read on to learn more about these opportunities and apply!
Researcher seat on the ORCID Board
As a community-built organization, ORCID is governed by a Board that is representative of its membership and wider community stakeholders. The ORCID Board fulfills an important role in the organization’s governance by providing strategic guidance and oversight for the successful achievement of ORCID’s mission.
ORCID Board Directors are elected for three-year terms on a staggered schedule, so every year, we hold elections to appoint new members to the Board. Most ORCID Board Directors are affiliated with ORCID member organizations, but two Researcher Board Director seats are reserved for practicing researchers and scholars, irrespective of their affiliation. And this year, we are looking to fill one of those Researcher Board Director seats.
This is a rare opportunity for a practicing researcher to participate in the governance of a major global, open, non-profit research infrastructure. The Nominating Committee will be looking for researcher candidates who:
- Are early or mid-career researchers enthusiastic about ORCID
- Can advocate on behalf of ORCID in their communities
- Have experience or a keen interest in governance of non-profit organizations and research infrastructures
What are you signing up for? The Researcher Board Director will serve for a period of three years, starting from January 1, 2022 (the first Board meeting will be in February 2022). They are expected to attend all board meetings—currently there are 5 virtual meetings a year; pre-COVID, there were 3 in-person meetings a year—and to play an active role in ORCID activities during their term. ORCID will reimburse expenses of the Researcher Directors to participate in in-person Board meetings.
Please see the ORCID website for full details of the Elections Process and the ORCID Nominating Committee charter. And for more information about ORCID governance, please see the Board Charter, annual reports, and other governance information, available on our Governance web page.
ORCID Researcher Advisory Council
Although the ORCID Board has long had two seats reserved for Researcher Directors, the Board focuses on overall organization governance and cannot represent the full breadth of the user community. To ensure that we keep the researcher at the center of everything we do at ORCID, we’ve decided to create the ORCID Researcher Advisory Council (ORAC), a diverse group of researchers who will provide valuable perspective and advice to ORCID staff and the ORCID Board as we seek to ensure that ORCID provides value and utility to researchers and aids in the process of research and innovation.
Council members will have the opportunity to influence and shape the direction of ORCID. In addition to ensuring that their perspectives are considered in ORCID decision making, this is a great opportunity to build an international network of like-minded individuals, and to gain experience through understanding the governance of an international non-profit organization.
Members of the ORCID Research Advisory Council will advise ORCID Board and staff on matters such as, but not limited to:
- ORCID’s policy as it relates to researchers, especially privacy-related matters
- ORCID’s strategy, particularly around researcher engagement and maximizing value to researchers
- Ease of use of the ORCID registry
- Researcher use cases and functionality of the ORCID registry and related tools
- Integration between ORCID and other tools, systems, and services used by researchers
- Communication and outreach to the researcher community to drive adoption and use of ORCID
- The use of ORCID data in research and meta research, including the public data file
Initially, Council members will serve for a two-year term. Thereafter, members of the Council may be invited to serve a second one-, two-, or three-year term to ensure staggered rotation of appointees going forward.
The Council will meet virtually twice a year, and we will set up an online forum on Slack to touch base between meetings and to allow for rapid consultation of the Council on topics as they arise.
How to apply
If you are interested in serving on the Board or the Council, you may self-nominate or nominate a colleague (with their permission) by completing the ORCID Researcher Nominations Form (please note that nominations are now closed for 2021). When completing the form, you will have the opportunity to indicate whether you are applying for the Board, the Council, or both.
We will consider all recommendations received by August 9, 2021.
Researcher nominations for the ORCID Board will be reviewed alongside member nominations by the Nominations Committee. Nominations for the ORAC will be reviewed by the Nominating Committee, ORAC chairs, Product Director, and Executive Director.
ORCID is a central element of the research infrastructure. Its mission is to serve researchers by connecting them to their works. The organization puts the researcher at the center of everything it does. By becoming a member of the Board or the Researcher Advisory Council, you have the opportunity to actively participate in the future of ORCID. Please consider applying!
Associated posts
https://info.orcid.org/nominations-now-open-for-orcid-board-elections-2022/
