eLife Community Ambassadors: 107 early-career researchers join the programme

The eLife Ambassadors programme offers early-career scientists a collaborative platform to ground themselves in open sciences principles. Since its launch six years ago, over 500 researchers have completed the 18-month programme. Now in its fourth iteration, we are delighted to welcome 107 life science scientists from across the world.

The 2025/26 cohort represents 37 countries, 44 research disciplines, and over 98 different universities, institutes, labs and research communities. Ambassadors will receive training and be equipped in their quest to champion open science principles. Through collaborations, workshops, networking and training, they will learn the art of leadership, community organising, and explore the Publish Review Curate (PRC) model to promote more transparent and equitable open scientific communication.

Ambassadors come from broad, overlapping and diverse geographical, cultural, and disciplinary backgrounds. This rich tapestry of skills and traditions provides participants with valuable access to the unique knowledge and perspectives of the whole group, as they work together towards a common goal. These unique life experiences and community insights are crucial to the success of this programme and the broader evolution of research culture. We are confident that they will challenge and broaden each other’s perspectives with compassion through this programme.

The Ambassador Program offers a great foundation for scientists in training, facilitating the development of essential skills beyond technical expertise. One of its greatest strengths is its global reach, bringing together researchers from diverse backgrounds. While scientific practices may vary across regions and cultures, the program underscores a shared commitment to research culture, integrity, and communication. By promoting dialogue, it empowers early-career researchers to drive change within their communities and the broader scientific landscape. – Laura Han, Early-Career Advisory Group member

In the first 10 months, participants will receive training in peer review, open science, science communication, community engagement, research reproducibility, and effective leadership, alongside fostering an inclusive research culture. Through collaboration and support from eLife and peers, they will be empowered to drive local change.

We believe this will help individuals to hone their skills and confidence, a crucial step towards the advocacy phase. Using the knowledge and skills gained from their training sessions and workshops, Ambassadors will be encouraged to join existing initiatives by alumni or create their own - whether at a local, regional, disciplinary or individual level - to address challenges in open science. We hope this will amplify their impact, first in their own research practices, and ultimately in transforming research culture.

By developing community-building skills, and understanding humane research practices, Ambassadors will form valuable connections, exchange ideas, and explore diverse approaches to science. Previous Ambassadors have shared how these exchanges inspired them to change their own practices and contributed to a wider transformation. Building a network based on openness, integrity and inclusion is key to the programme’s success.

"Being part of this great community began by changing my way of thinking, giving me confidence and the assurance that I could generate relationships with people from other countries, but it also made me believe that I am capable of generating initiatives that positively impact science and specifically, the mental health of students and researchers in science areas. In the end, I can say that my academic and personal life has improved and there is a before and after the ambassador programme." – Christian Molina, eLife Ambassador 2022 cohort

In the final eight months, Ambassadors will apply their learning to address specific issues, in their local context. The networks they’ve built will guide and inspire their approaches to tackling challenges that, while niche, have broader significance.

Once again, we are eager to see next-generation thinking and innovative solutions to the challenges facing scholarly communication in the 21st century. eLife will continue to support these future leaders as we work together to promote transparency, rigour, accessibility, accountability and integrity in science communication and broader research culture in these challenging times.

You can read more about initiatives led by previous cohorts of Ambassadors as they continue to drive change, innovate solutions and advocate for responsible science worldwide. We look forward to seeing what this cohort’s creativity will bring.

“I’m thrilled to join the 2025 cohort of eLife Community Ambassadors. Promoting integrity, equity, and transparency in science is more important than ever, and I look forward to supporting and engaging with the open science community over the next year.” – Alexis Garrentson, eLife Ambassador 2025 cohort