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Published February 18, 2022 | Version 1.0
Project deliverable Open

D6.7 Report on schools run through franchising with local organisers

  • 1. Royal Holloway University of London
  • 2. DCC, University of Glasgow
  • 3. STFC

Description

The CODATA-RDA schools have since 2016 provided training to Early-Career Researchers, particularly from Low and Middle Income Countries, through a specific model of delivering training in a variety of different areas (e.g. São Paulo, Brazil; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Kigali, Rwanda). The number of schools run per annum has expanded slowly since then, with the primary rate-limiting steps being dependent on volunteer network and having access to mostly ad hoc funding that is focussed on individual schools rather than on the central organisation. 

Based on the successful experience of running regional versions of schools where local organisers make as much use of the local instructor capacity as possible, the concept of franchised schools, which are run by a separate project, e.g. one of the EOSC 5B projects, or a community that is based in Europe, was explored. A successful implementation of franchised schools  within the FAIRsFAIR project would indicate that they could be run on a more financially sustainable footing beyond the lifetime of the project and hence in the longer term provide sustainable financial support for the running of the schools in Low and Middle Income Countries.

During the FAIRsFAIR project it was found that there was little interest in taking up this offer. Much of this is due to the pandemic as focus shifted to online delivery. On the other hand, it is apparent that offering a complete course for an organisation to take up that already has a commitment to provide its own teaching is less attractive than we had thought. 

With this in mind, on top of the work of transitioning to online delivery, which has proved to be quite a positive experience, further work has been carried out on examining the financial sustainability of the schools.

There are a number of recommendations to make.  In particular, teaching components (materials, curriculums etc.) should be as small as possible to encourage integration with other types of teaching. Creating new online materials or transitioning to online is not trivial and needs materials and planning. Making teaching materials FAIR will increase the visibility and use of those materials. Finally, making materials accessible (in the sense of accessibility for those with disabilities) and translating materials to widely used languages will also increase their use.

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D6.7_Franchising_Schools_20220218_V1.0_Final.pdf

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Additional details

Funding

FAIRsFAIR – Fostering FAIR Data Practices in Europe 831558
European Commission