You can help shape the future of research data management, sharing and reuse as a member of the Dryad Board of Directors. We’re inviting nominations for new Directors to start three-year terms in October 2023. Nominations must be submitted by July 23, 2023.
As we approach our sixteenth year of operation, Dryad is uniquely poised to support the global research community in expanding support for data-sharing and beginning to realize the potential for open data through more routine data reuse.
Our multi-stakeholder community of academic and research institutions, publishing organizations, academic societies and research funders continues to grow, with 30 new institutions and 97 new journals joining in the last year – including Stony Brook University, the University of Pennsylvania and the suite of journals published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
We continue to curate and publish more and more data, now publishing an Open Data Digest to showcase the latest research results. We’ve developed a new, three-year strategy. And, our team is ready to support deepening engagement among our current members and the growth of the Dryad community with more institutional, publishing and funder members.
This is a seminal moment in research and an inflection point for Dryad. Could you be the right person to help steward us into our new phase?
About the opportunity
The Dryad Board is a diverse group of committed individuals representing Dryad’s multi-stakeholder community and having the mix of skills and experience necessary for supporting the organization at each stage in our journey. Our priorities for recruitment this year are individuals:
- Representing academic and research institutions or academic societies and working at the forefront of research data management
- Possessing skills in business development or marketing
- Identifying as an underrepresented group in the global research community, in association with any visible or invisible characteristic.
- Based outside the UK and Europe.
Nominees need not have all of the listed characteristics to be considered, but nominees having more of these characteristics may be given precedence. We recognise the rapidly evolving policy environment in the United States and opportunities for growth in Oceania and will take these into account in our deliberations.
Dryad is a non-profit, 501(c)3 corporation registered in North Carolina, USA. The Board of Directors is responsible for: supporting and evaluating the chief executive; ensuring effective planning; monitoring and strengthening programs and services; ensuring adequate financial resources; protecting assets and providing proper financial oversight; building a competent board; ensuring legal and ethical integrity; enhancing the organization’s public standing; and, when needed, determining mission and purpose and selecting the chief executive (source: BoardSource, Board Responsibilities and Structures — FAQs, retrieved 4 May 2022). The Dryad Board meets every quarter online and once annually in person. Our Directors also participate in one or more committees or task forces, which can meet monthly and provide a closer level of oversight for Dryad’s many programs and services. Board members are not paid.
Selection process
Nominations will be reviewed by the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, who will then recommend a slate for approval by the Board. Candidates may be invited to a brief interview. Upon approval, the Dryad membership will be asked to ratify the Board’s recommendation by online vote in August 2023. New members will join the Board in October and begin their three-year terms. The Executive Committee includes Jason Williams (Chair), Caroline Sutton (Vice-chair), Fiona Murphy (Secretary), and Ian Mulvany (Treasurer). Learn more about our Board on the Dryad website.
Informal enquiries about how the Board works and what may be involved in serving are welcome. Please contact Jason Williams via chair [at] datadryad [dot] org.
Application process
Individuals need to self-nominate. Please feel free to share this call with anyone you feel should be considered.
Nominees are asked to provide information about themselves, their primary affiliation, and their role. We do ask if you identify with an underrepresented community but will ask nothing further. (Note that this question is voluntary). Nominees are asked to describe their expertise and core competencies, past board experience, and to provide a brief statement about why they’d like to join the Dryad Board, along with a curriculum vitae and three references. Our hope is to form a rounded and objective view of each nominee, and to reduce our collective dependency on being networked.
Questions about the form and the process may be addressed to director [at] datadryad [dot] org. To be considered for the Dryad Board of Directors, three-year term starting October 2023, please complete the nomination form no later than July 23, 2023. Thank you!