I’m pleased to announce that nominations for ORCID’s Board of Directors are now open. 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. Our Board members are elected for three-year terms on a staggered schedule, so every year, we hold elections to appoint new members to the Board. More information is available in the ORCID Board Charter.
This is your opportunity to participate in ORCID’s governance and represent your organization on ORCID’s Board.
Member-Director Nominations
The ORCID Board nominations process gives ORCID member organizations a direct voice in the ORCID’s direction and priorities. Our annual elections are an important part of ORCID’s commitment to open and transparent stakeholder governance, and the election process ensures that ORCID grows and develops in close partnership with its member organizations.
All ORCID member organizations are eligible to nominate a representative to stand for election to serve as a Member-Director on the Board.
This year, we are looking to fill up to four Member-Director board seats. To apply to be a Member-Director, you must be affiliated with an ORCID member organization.
Selection Criteria
Each year, our Board establishes criteria for the selection of new Board members in order to maintain the balance of skills necessary to govern the organization, and to ensure diverse representation from ORCID’s stakeholder communities. This year, in seeking perspectives and skills complementary to those of continuing Board members, the Nominating Committee will be specifically looking for candidates who meet two or more of the following:
- Have a track record of advocating on behalf of ORCID within their region and community
- Are knowledgeable about ORCID and/or other scholarly infrastructure services
- Represent one of the following stakeholder groups: funders, government, or policy makers
- Have financial expertise
- Have experience in organizational governance
Board qualifications and expectations
Supported by the Executive Director and a full-time professional staff, the ORCID Board is responsible for:
- Developing and regularly updating ORCID’s strategic plan
- Reviewing high-level organizational goals and policies to support that plan
- Overseeing ORCID’s organizational and financial performance
- Ensuring ORCID has financial resources to achieve its mission
- Monitoring Board function
- Appointing the Executive Director and reviewing their performance
- Serving as a community advocate for ORCID
More information about the Board’s role and responsibilities can be found in the Board Charter.
If elected, new Board members will serve for a period of three years, starting in February 2026. Board Directors are expected to attend all Board meetings—currently there are four meetings a year, two virtual, and two in person—and to play an active role in ORCID activities during the course of their term, including serving on one or two Board committees.
All meetings are conducted in English and applicants must be fluent in English.
Time Commitment
In-person Board meetings typically last two days and take place in March and September. The meetings are hosted by member organizations in different regions across the globe. Board members are expected to travel to attend in-person board meetings. To help achieve our goal of broad representation across sectors and regions, a Board Meeting Attendance Fund is available to reduce financial barriers to participation in Board meetings for those Directors whose organizations are unable to support their travel costs.
Virtual Board meetings take place in May and November and are four hours each. Virtual Board meetings are split across two days to best accommodate the wide range of time zones on our global Board. This means meetings may take place outside of your standard working hours.
In addition to attending Board meetings, Board members are expected to serve on one or two Board committees each year. With the exception of the Executive Committee, Board committees generally meet virtually four times a year. Meetings tend to be one hour and may be held outside of your normal working hours due to the time zone constraints of other committee members. More information around committee roles and responsibilities can be found in the committee charters listed on our governance page.
Board members are responsible for reviewing meeting materials and making substantive contributions to the work of the Board and its committees.
Nominating Committee & Elections Process
As this year’s Chair of the Nominating Committee, I look forward to working closely with the other Committee members on this process:
- Soledad Bravo, Cincel, Chile (Board Member)
- Paul Gemmill, Research on Research Institute, UK (External Member)
- Lasith Gunawardena, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka (Board Member)
- Kalynn Kennon, University of Oxford, UK (Board Member)
- Carly Robinson, Department of Energy, USA (Board Member)
- Karin Wulf, Brown University, USA (External Member)
The role of the Nominating Committee is to:
- select a slate of candidates that is balanced and diverse
- ensure that all of the skills needed to govern the organization are present among Board members
- ensure that the many different sectors and regions that make up ORCID’s community are represented
- Ensure the ORCID bylaw requirements are met in that a majority of Board seats are occupied by not-for-profit organizations.
Annual reports and other governance information is available on our Governance web page.
Key Dates
We will consider all nominations received by 27 June, 2025. The slate will be presented to the current Board for approval at its September meeting, after which it will be announced publicly. Our voting members then have the choice of either voting for the slate or proposing additional candidates (within 30 days of the slate being announced), in which case the election will become a plurality vote by candidate. To propose additional candidates, a group of 20 or more member organizations must submit a nomination in writing to ORCID before 31 October, 2025. Note that the group may not include more than one member per consortium (for specific details, see Article III, Section 2b of ORCID’s Bylaws). We will send notifications and open the election by electronic ballot on 3 November, 2025.
| Date | Activity |
| 22 May | Call for Board nominations |
| 27 June | Closing date for Board nominations |
| July – August | Nominating Committee to review nominations |
| 17-18 September | Nominating Committee presents slate for Board approval |
| 1 October | Slate made public |
| 31 October | Closing date for alternative nominations |
| 3 November | Voting opens |
| 20 November | Voting closes, results announced at virtual members’ meeting |
| March 2026 | Elected members start their term at the first Board meeting of the year. (Tentatively March; Exact date to be confirmed) |
How to Apply
Please nominate yourself, encourage a colleague to apply, or nominate another individual (with their permission), using our nomination form:
As a reminder, to be eligible to serve as a Member-Director on the Board, you must be an employee, officer or director of a current ORCID member organization. You can find the full list of ORCID member organizations here.
As an organization, we are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We strive to have a Board that reflects our diverse community and we encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented groups to apply to serve on the Board.
We look forward to receiving your nominations over the coming months.
If you are thinking about nominating yourself but aren’t sure or have questions, please get in touch at [email protected]. Remember, the deadline for nominations is 27 June, 2025.
