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NOW OPEN: GÉANT Project Ideas lab/incubator (WP4 T5.1) – Call for proposals for innovative above-the-net services development

The GÉANT GN5-1 WP4 incubator is looking for ideas for new digital services in support of European research and education. Through the incubator, the GN5-1 project is offering to its participants manpower to develop service Proof-of-Concepts (PoCs), aimed at a possible inclusion into the GÉANT community’s portfolio of above-the-net services. The PoCs could be something completely new or add functionality to existing services. 

The incubator ultimately aims to reduce risks associated to the development of innovative ideas before committing resources on the level of a project task or GÉANT service.

ACT NOW!

The call opened on 1 August 2023 and will close for proposals on 15 September 2023. This gives interested parties 1 ½ month to complete and submit their proposals. Visit the application page to submit your proposals.

The incubator will award two proposals based on potential impact, innovation, and sustainability. Evaluation criteria are explained in detail in the application form.

BE CREATIVE!

Above-the-net services in support of research and education extend well beyond commodity cloud services (both community and commercial). eduMEET is a great example of a service that began as a concept within our community and now extends bespoke video-conferencing support for education and research activities globally. New functionalities are regularly added to this solution making it a highly competitive, extremely valuable toolset within the NREN portfolio.

Highly topical is the NREN support for open science and data management (access policy, sovereignty, autonomy, and FAIR), as well as for the standardisation of research metadata. How do we act as regional/national nodes within the broader EOSC? How do educators facilitate blended learning models and the concepts behind flipped classrooms? Perhaps the GÉANT community could develop shared, open-source services in support of such challenges. The opportunities for innovation are ENDLESS!

Eligibility and rules of participation

The call is limited to GN5-1 project partners as the cost of concept development will be covered by project Person Months (PMs), available specifically for this purpose. 8 PMs will be allocated to each successful PoC.

It will be possible to form a consortium of partners within the GN5-1 project in order to harness all the skills necessary to develop and demonstrate your concept. It is anticipated that the development of ideas will occur in 4-month sprints.

If you need ideas on how to go about securing certain development skills and resources, or agile scrum masters, please reach out to us at incubator@geant.org.

Each of the partners in any awarded proposal will simply need to sign a MoU committing that time charged against PMs reallocated to the partner will be focused on PoC development.

How to apply

  • Download the Application Form template and use it to prepare your proposal
  • Visit the Application page, click on the “Submit new abstract” button and fill in all the essential details
  • Attach:
    • A signed and (if necessary) stamped PDF (scanned) of the filled-out application form
    • A Microsoft Word or PDF version (not scanned) of the filled-out application form
  • Click on the “Submit” button to submit your proposal


Call materials – All materials are available at https://events.geant.org/event/1470/

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