{"id":12240,"date":"2026-08-05T15:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T19:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/?page_id=12240"},"modified":"2026-08-07T08:44:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T12:44:51","slug":"opendataawards","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/opendataawards\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Data Impact Awards 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Open Data Impact Awards recognize University of Delaware researchers who are advancing research, teaching and public engagement by making their data openly available. Sponsored by the University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press, the UD Data Science Institute and Delaware EPSCoR, the awards celebrate open data that demonstrates meaningful impact or the potential for future impact.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re an undergraduate student beginning your research career or a senior faculty member leading large research projects, these awards celebrate your commitment to transparency, reproducibility and public engagement through open data.<\/p>\n<h2>What is Open Data?<\/h2>\n<p>Open data are research data that anyone can freely access, use, modify and share. Typically published under an open license and deposited in a trusted repository, open datasets support transparency, reproducibility and innovation across disciplines.<\/p>\n<span class=\"button db-button\" style=\"width:auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.cloud.microsoft\/r\/p5gL2hJAFj\">Application Form<\/a><\/span>\n<h2>Table of Contents<\/h2>\n<div class=\"format-opt htoc\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#why_apply\">Why Apply?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/who_can_apply\">Who Can Apply?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/key_dates\">Key Dates<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/required_specs\">Required Specifications for Datasets<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/how_to_apply\">How to Apply<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/criteria\">Evaluation Criteria<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/contact_us\">Contact<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"why_apply\" class=\"format-opt sectionID\">\n<h2>Why Apply?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Receive one of three $1,000 awards<\/li>\n<li>One award is reserved for an undergraduate or graduate student researcher<\/li>\n<li>Gain recognition for your commitment to open research<\/li>\n<li>Increase the visibility and discoverability of your work<\/li>\n<li>Help advance a culture of open science at the University of Delaware<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"who_can_apply\" class=\"format-opt sectionID\">\n<h2>Who Can Apply?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Undergraduate students<\/li>\n<li>Graduate students<\/li>\n<li>Postdoctoral researchers<\/li>\n<li>Faculty<\/li>\n<li>Staff<\/li>\n<li>Collaborative research teams (teams must decide how they will split prize funds)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Applicants from all disciplines across the University of Delaware are encouraged to apply!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"key_dates\" class=\"format-opt sectionID\">\n<h2>Key Dates<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Applications Open: August 7, 2026<\/li>\n<li>Deadline to Apply: September 25, 2026<\/li>\n<li>Award Recipients Notified: By October 2, 2026<\/li>\n<li>Award Recipients Recognized: October 8, 2026 at the Data Science Institute Symposium. Winners are expected to give a 5-minute lightning talk about their work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"required_specs\" class=\"format-opt sectionID\">\n<h2>Eligibility<\/h2>\n<p>The dataset must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Be openly accessible under a recognized open license (e.g., CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA).<\/li>\n<li>Be deposited in a reputable repository (e.g., UD Dataverse, Dryad, Zenodo, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>Be described with appropriate metadata and documentation that explains the data collection methodology, variable definitions and any data processing steps.<\/li>\n<li>Be created or collected by the applicant, who must have the legal authority to share the dataset publicly.<\/li>\n<li>Comply with all relevant ethical guidelines and regulations (e.g., IRB approval, data privacy).<\/li>\n<li>Include appropriate anonymization or de-identification if sensitive information is involved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"how_to_apply\" class=\"format-opt sectionID\">\n<h2>How to Apply<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Ensure your dataset meets all of the requirements above.<\/li>\n<li>Review the evaluation criteria.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare your application with supporting documentation.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.cloud.microsoft\/r\/p5gL2hJAFj\">Complete and submit your application<\/a> by September 25, 2026.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Application Materials<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>The application consists of a dataset description and answers to questions in the application. Please gather the following materials to prepare your application:<\/li>\n<li>Permanent URL link to the dataset in the repository.<\/li>\n<li>Dataset title and description. Please note: The description should describe the dataset independent of any publications; do not simply copy an article abstract.<\/li>\n<li>Links to any associated publications.<\/li>\n<li>A short description of how the data was collected and validated, not exceeding three sentences.<\/li>\n<li>A short description of how this dataset can be used by others, not exceeding three sentences.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"criteria\" class=\"format-opt sectionID\">\n<h2>Evaluation Criteria<\/h2>\n<div class=\"box__yellow\">\n<p>Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Openness<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Open License &amp; Repository: Is the dataset openly licensed and accessible through an online repository?<\/li>\n<li>Findability: Can the dataset be easily found and understood through its metadata and description?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Data Quality &amp; Integrity<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Accuracy &amp; Completeness: Is the dataset accurate and complete?<\/li>\n<li>Documentation: Is the dataset clear and thoroughly documented?<\/li>\n<li>Data Provenance: Are the origin and processing of the data well explained?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Reusability &amp; Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reusability: Can others easily reuse the dataset?<\/li>\n<li>Potential Impact*: Could the dataset significantly impact research, teaching, or public engagement?<\/li>\n<li>Citation Readiness: Is it easy to properly cite the dataset?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4. Ethical Considerations<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ethical Compliance: Does the dataset follow ethical guidelines and regulations?<\/li>\n<li>Bias Awareness: Does the applicant show awareness of potential biases in the dataset and its use?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>* Because datasets vary in age, judges will consider both demonstrated impact and future potential. Newer datasets will not be disadvantaged simply because they have had less time to accumulate citations, downloads, or reuse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"contact_us\" class=\"format-opt sectionID\">\n<h2>Questions?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/contact\/\">Contact the Research Data and Design Commons<\/a> for assistance with eligibility, application requirements or the submission process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Open Data Impact Awards recognize University of Delaware researchers who are advancing research, teaching and public engagement by making their data openly available. Sponsored by the University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press, the UD Data Science Institute and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-12240","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 15:54:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12240"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12250,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12240\/revisions\/12250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/data-and-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}