[IRTalk] SCOSS calls on the Open Science community to help identify field of potential applicants for second funding cycle

[Iryna Kuchma]

*Apologies for cross-posting*

Dear Members of the Open Science Community,

A year into an important initiative to help shore up vital, non-commercial
services within the Open Science community; the Global Sustainability
Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS) is now beginning our search for
new potential candidates to help fund. If you are a non-profit essential
infrastructure for Open Access or Open Science of international
significance and are concerned about your sustainability, this mail is for
you.

SCOSS <http://www.scoss.org> launched in late 2017 as a response to a
growing concern over the security of the infrastructure underpinning Open
Science today. The intent? To ensure that key services like the Directory
of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and SHERPA/RoMEO, services that aid the
scientific and scholarly community in the accessing and sharing of
research, have the solvency to exist as well as innovate and evolve well
into the future.

In short, this is how the initiative works: SCOSS provides the framework
and funding structure, vetting potential candidates based on a defined set
of criteria. The most eligible of those that pass the vigorous evaluation
are then presented to the global OA/OS community of stakeholders with an
appeal for monetary support in a crowdfunding-style approach.

To date, more than 750 thousand Euros have been pledged to help fund DOAJ
and SHERPA/RoMEO, the first services selected in our pilot funding call.

We’re reaching out to you now as we are preparing to pre-screen services
for eligibility for SCOSS’s second funding cycle; perhaps you are with a
SCOSS relevant organisation, well-established but concerned about your
sustainability. At this point, the board is seeking to identify a field of
such potential candidates to vet; among the basic qualifications: eligible
services must have a non-profit status in the country in which they are
based and/or be affiliated with or owned by a research or educational
institution.

Services that are interested in seeking SCOSS funding are invited to send
us a pre-application as a formal expression of interest in applying. The
following information should be included:

   - Name of the person applying on behalf of the service/organisation and
   contact details
   - Organisation name
   - Year the organisation was established
   - Legal status of the organisation (e.g. non-profit)
   - In short descriptive form, the organisation’s aim
   - A description of the organisation’s financial situation and how SCOSS
   might be able to support efforts toward gaining sustainability (500 words
   max)

To be considered, all pre-applications must be submitted at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsRiVAKvM85RIFvVqxVi0AOCgWpP8B-nvp5QojBfLiGUkp_A/viewform
by
31 October.
SCOSS will evaluate all submissions; those organisations that meet the
SCOSS aforementioned description while making a clear, strong case for
community support will be invited to apply formally in late 2018.

For all questions, please direct them to info at scoss.org

Thank you for your interest and support in this effort to secure our vital
Open Science infrastructure.

Kind regards,

Iryna Kuchma
On behalf of the SCOSS Advisory Group
http://www.scoss.org
info at scoss.org

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