We started to transform toward Open Science together with NASA: 10 points!
As we shared as soon as we got the news (Figure 1), with OLS, 2i2c, and the support of NASA, we joined the initiative to transform science and technology into open practices.
Figure 1. Excitement and joy! We got the support of NASA to teach #OpenScience in Spanish for 3 years. Source: Twitter, April 11th. 2023.
The excitement and joy of the announcement increase as we begin to work on these projects.
How did we get here? What does it represent? How will we work? What reach and impact do we expect? Let us tell you more in these 10 points:
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NASA committed to building an open and inclusive scientific community over the next decade. Their goal is to work globally for the open exchange of software, data, science, technology, and knowledge so that research is transparent, inclusive, accessible, and reproducible. To help build a culture of open science, NASA is promoting the Open-Source Science Initiative (OSSI), a comprehensive program of activities to support the advancement of science toward openness. As part of this program, MetaDocencia will train Spanish-speaking scientists and tecnicians to transform their daily work to Open Science.
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To support this transformation, NASA issued an open call for $6.5 million for the 5-year Transform to Open Science (TOPS) project, aimed at training 20,000 research-related audiences in these topics.
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MetaDocencia felt very compelled by such an inclusive call. Thus, we rolled up our sleeves, dusted off our experience applying to calls from US agencies, and joint efforts with OLS and 2i2c. By December 2022, we had co-created and submitted three projects for TOPS. In April 2023 we had the fantastic news that all three projects were funded -a record 100% effectiveness, unprecedented for an open call from a funder like NASA!- In these projects, MetaDocencia will contribute with its experience in training, the scientific expertise of its community, and its Spanish-language competence and contextualization knowldege to work with Spanish-speaking scientific and technical communities.
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We will lead the virtual training cohorts for Spanish speakers project. The training will cover the five Open Science 101 modules. Each participant will work with a mentor over six weeks to discuss the real-world application of the knowledge.
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For OLS and MetaDocencia, this support represents sustainability, a clear and defined route, and many goals to accomplish. We are delighted to have a three-year roadmap that will help us to continue doing the work we love, deepening our commitment to the values of science and technology at the service of our societies.
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Together with 2i2c, we committed to developing educational content specific for TOPS ScienceCore. This proposal combines curricular modules associated with different disciplines to increase the knowledge and skills needed to take advantage of NASA’s open tools and technologies for Earth and space research. Our training module will cover the analysis of open satellite data useful for understanding and predicting wildfires, drought, and floods.
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For MetaDocencia, this collaboration with 2i2c is a valuable opportunity to capitalize on our knowledge of instructional design and our experience in open science and education to serve the community. It represents an additional boost to our institutional sustainability over the next two years, further increasing our commitment to the chosen path with attention to current and central issues for our region.
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These great news fill us with pride and responsibility. On the one hand, working together with NASA and these communities feels like a dream come true, which motivates and drives us toward the next stage of MetaDocencia’s work to fulfill our mission and vision. We will continue to work along with Code for Science and Society team, whose experience and structure support all our plans.
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On the other hand, it implies a restructuring of MetaDocencia´s teams, resources, and goals. From mid-2023 we have been preparing to move from the virtual short courses, that we’ve been delivering since we started, to working with mentored cohorts. We have been working with our stable team of 14 people remotely in a relaxed and inclusive environment, where every person is welcome and has space for their development and wellbeing.
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We look back full of relief for being able to sustain the growth of our project, having started as a 100% volunteer-based organization from Latin America less than four years ago. We are delighted to have a seat and a voice at the table where the international Open Science is happenning.
Follow us on social media to stay on top of new announcements! 🚀 If you want to know more about these projects or show us your interest in participating in this next stage, contact us through our social networks, or subscribe to our newsletter (in Spanish) to get all our latest news.
Did you like this post? You can reuse it freely under CC by 4.0 license. Just cite it!
Here is the citation we recommend you use:
MetaDocencia Team. (2023). We started to transform toward Open Science together with NASA: 10 points!. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8233747
