eLife Community Ambassadors: Welcoming 128 researchers to the programme

The eLife Community Ambassadors programme was set up by the Early-Career Advisory Group (ECAG) to help channel and support the passion of early-career researchers (ECRs) in driving change towards open science, greater integrity and equity in the wider scientific enterprise. This year we welcome 128 eLife Community Ambassadors from all over the globe to the third edition of the programme. They represent a great diversity of perspectives, as well as 51 countries, 44 research disciplines, and over 120 different universities, institutes, labs and research communities.

Each Ambassador represents various overlapping communities: their local geographical research community, their research discipline community, the community concerned with a certain aspect of research culture, and other communities they identify with that are not included in the graph. Each Ambassador's unique life experiences and community insights are crucial to the success of this programme and to future improvements to research culture across the globe. We will encourage them to voice their communities’ unique challenges and broaden each other’s perspectives. This way they can bridge gaps that exist across researchers today and drive innovative change together.

“We want a research culture that is focused on talent without bias, that is supported by more resources – like fellowships and funding for international students, and one that is more kind and sympathetic to the mishappenings that is life. Now I feel empowered to finally work together to make change…” – Ruchika Bajaj, eLife Ambassador for 2022

A common topic of discussion for many ECRs all over the world is how to transform their passion for change across areas of research culture into impact. Researchers’ training can be limited with regards to developing skills that empower effective collaboration, as are opportunities to connect with scholars beyond boundaries such as discipline or geography. The programme seeks to equip ECRs with these skills, alongside a strong network of like-minded colleagues to support them in creating change.

This year, based on feedback from former Ambassadors, we are starting the programme with eight months of learning and community building for the participants. The Ambassadors will use this time to help hone their skills and confidence before we encourage them to take on opportunities for activism. With training on open science, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), science communication, leadership, research reproducibility, advocacy and influencing skills, and lots more, Ambassadors will have a unique opportunity for professional and personal development. We hope this will enable them to make the most impact possible, when they join and form initiatives aiming to change research culture later and in adopting new approaches in their own research practice.

The community building will enable individual Ambassadors to build crucial relationships with others, explore different perspectives on how science is done elsewhere, and identify common interests. We’ve seen previously that exchange of different experiences, views and ideas about research culture enables Ambassadors to change their own practices and innovate solutions for wider change. Building a strong network embeds the principles of openness, integrity and inclusion that eLife wishes to see grow across the scientific community and it’s a key to the success of the programme.

“We wish for the eLife Community Ambassadors to be an exemplar community of equity and inclusion, not just diversity. One that gives a sense of belonging and safety to openly share and discuss ideas and activities. We hope that will increase confidence and result in mutual support for their change-making endeavours.” – Ailís O’Carroll, eLife Community Manager

In the second phase of the programme, the activism phase, starting later this year, the Ambassadors will use their training, awareness and networks to delve into their key areas of concern with research culture. We will support the formation of groups focused on these areas, such as research reproducibility, fair funding and open-access publishing. The Ambassador groups will each raise awareness, research the gaps and barriers to change, create resources, run events and create communities to address each initiative. The eLife community will support the development of these initiatives and encourage each Ambassador to engage with their colleagues locally.

Ambassadors from the previous two cohorts of the programme continue to drive change, innovate solutions and advocate responsible behaviours across science. Read more about their continued efforts here. We look forward to what the new Ambassadors' creativity will bring.

“The programme enables us to collaborate with scientists from around the world to promote and contribute to best practices in research. The impact of the programme on our community lasts beyond its duration – I was able to continue building global collaborations between eLife and other initiatives (e.g., FENS-ENCODS, isiCNI Imbizo, IWD Wikipedia editathon) to promote and empower underrepresented groups and those with less resources. I wish the new cohort of the Ambassadors all the best for collectively accelerating changes in research practices, learning together, and building invaluable friendships!” – Tai-Ying Lee, Ambassador alumni

Africa

1. Ali Mussa, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan
2. Andrew Abagai Ali, Rhodes University, South Africa
3. Ashraf Mahmoud, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College KCMUCo, Tanzania
4. Biirah Judith, Kyambogo University , Uganda
5. Deodatus Mabula, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences-Bugando, Tanzania
6. Dorotea Malimi, Muhimbili university of health and allied sciences, Tanzania
7. Emmanuel Boakye, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
8. Ethos Okorie, Almadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
9. Frida Kaywanga, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences -MUHAS, Tanzania
10. Ifeoluwa Oyeyemi, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo City, Nigeria
11. James Seutra Kaba, Kwame Nkrumah University of science and technology, Ghana
12. Joyous Mbuthia, Kenyatta University, Kenya
13. Lamis Yahia Mohamed Elkheir, University of Khartoum, Sudan (Sudan/ France)
14. Morufu Olalekan Raimi, Niger Delta University, Nigeria
15. Obadia Shadrack, The University of Dodoma, Tanzania
16. Prudence Masanga, Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Tanzania
17. Rachida Namoune, University Hassiba Benbouali of Chlef, Algeria
18. Raziah Quallatein Mwawanga, University of Bradford, UK/ Tanzania
19. Roseline Dzekem Dine, Rinda Ubuzima, Rwanda
20. Salem Mohamed, Zagazig University, Egypt
21. Samuel Eziuzor, Rhema University, Nigeria (Nigeria/ Germany)
22. Sumaya Kambal, National University-Sudan, Sudan
23. Swaliho Dauda Sheriff, Njala University, Sierra Leone

Europe

1. Ana Paula Mendonça, University of Padova, Italy
2. Arojit Mitra, INSERM, Bordeaux University, France
3. Béryl Laplace-Builhé, IGFL-ENS-Lyon, France
4. Christoph Miehl, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany
5. Christos Gkogkas, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), Greece
6. Clarissa Whitmire, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Germany
7. Inês Hahn, University of Manchester, UK
8. Inge Wortel, Radboud University, The Netherlands
9. Ioanna Pandi, Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Greece
10. Jyh-Miin Lin, University of Cambridge, UK (UK/Taiwan)
11. Lei Zhang, University of Vienna, Austria
12. Margarida Viola, UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands
13. Marioara Chiritoiu-Butnaru, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Romania
14. Nalaka Wijekoon, Maastricht University, Netherlands
15. Nazia Nasir, University of Leeds, UK
16. Nicole Vissers, University College London, UK
17. Paris Stefaboudis, University of Oxford, UK
18. Roberto Maffulli, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
19. Tanya Soliman, Queen Mary University London, UK
20. Tarryn Balsdon, École normale supérieure, France
21. Tomasz Kościółek, Jagiellonian University, Poland
22. Yahaya A. Yabo, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Central and Eastern Asia

1. Aakriti Hariprakash, Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (DBT-inStem), India
2. Akina Shrestha, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Nepal
3. Asma Minhas, Sahiwal Medical College, Pakistan
4. Baicheng Huang, National Research Center for Veterinary Medicine, China
5. Bhavya Dharmaraaj, National Centre for Biological Sciences, India
6. Chayasith Uttamapinant, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology, Thailand
7. Cheng-Hsun Ho, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
8. Chenhui Wang, ShanghaiTech University, China
9. Chi Kuan, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
10. Devanshi Gupta, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), India
11. Ellora Chua, Yale-NUS College, Singapore
12. Fatma Betul Dincaslan, National University of Singapore, Singapore
13. Giovanni Sala, Fujita Health University, Japan
14. Hasan Ucar, The University of Tokyo, Japan
15. Joshua Liu, University of Macau, Macau (Special Administrative Region of China)
16. Kazuya Horibe, Osaka University, Japan
17. Lukas Schmitt, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Japan
18. Manoj Kumar, CSIR-Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, India
19. Mohamed Najeeb Sikkander Mohamed Yoonus Imran, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka
20. Muhammad Noman, National Institute for Genomics & Advanced Biotechnology, Pakistan
21. Muhammad Shahzad Iqbal, University of Central Punjab, Pakistan
22. Navpreet Kaur, Punjab Agricultural University , India
23. Pallavi Raj Sharma, Indian Institute of Science, India
24. Pei Ying Ng, National University of Singapore, Singapore
25. Rahul Sharma, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, India
26. Rio Sugimura, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
27. Sajidha Mohammed, University of Calicut, India
28. Sheena Ramazanu, National University of Singapore, Singapore
29. Sherif Rashad, Tohoku University, Japan
30. Vivia Khosasih, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
31. Yuhang Wang, DP Technology, China

North America

1. Andrian Gajigan, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
2. Ankita Arora, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, USA
3. Anuj Sharma, Princeton University, USA
4. Brian Spulock, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
5. Dhana Friedrich, Harvard Medical School, USA
6. Dinesh Natesan, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
7. Emily Dennis, Princeton University, Janelia, USA
8. Evan Brown, University of Virginia, USA
9. Kanika Khanna, UC Berkeley, USA
10. Nick Pokorzynski, Yale University, USA
11. Ruchika Bajaj, University of California San Francisco, USA
12. Sandhya Prabhakaran, Moffitt Cancer Center, USA
13. Sana Nasim, Harvard Medical School, USA
14. Sejal Davla, McGill University, Canada
15. Shawn Hallett, University of Michigan, USA
16. Shraddha Shah, University of Rochester, USA
17. Suhaila Rahman, Washington University School of Medicine, USA
18. Sukrit Singh, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA
19. Verena Claudia Haage, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, USA
20. Yuliya Voskobiynyk, Gladstone Institutes/UCSF, USA

Western Asia

1. Adviti Naik, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Qatar
2. Ahmad AlHyasat, University of Jordan, Jordan
3. Ahmet Özen, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Turkey
4. Eda Şamiloğlu, Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Turkey
5. Hazem Daou, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
6. Khaled Sagheer, National Community College for Medical and Applied Sciences, Yemen
7. Ramia Al Bakain, The University of Jordan, Jordan
8. Saleh Omairi, Wasit University, Iraq
9. Tala Noun, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Oceania

1. Christina Straub, Institute of Environmental Science and Research, New Zealand
2. Debnath Ghosal, University of Melbourne, Australia
3. Morgan Freney, University of Queensland, Australia
4. Osvaldo Contreras, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the University of New South Wales, Australia
5. Rafiatu Azumah, The University of Adelaide, Australia
6. Ritika Saxena, Murdoch Childrens' Research Institute, Australia
7. Simone Li, University of Queensland, Australia (Denmark/ Australia)
8. Srijan Shrestha, The University of Adelaide, Australia
9. Szymon Drobniak, UNSW, Australia (Australia, Poland)
10. Zinat Mohammadpour, University of Adelaide, Australia

Latin America

1. Christian Molina-Aguilar, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, Mexico
2. David Ramírez, Universidad de Concepción, Chile
3. Juan Salvador Calanni, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
4. Julieth Irene Murillo Silva, Universidad Javeriana-Cali, Colombia
5. Karen Castillo, Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaiso and Centro de Investigacion de Estudios Avanzados del Maule, Chile
6. María Eugenia Segretin, CONICET-UBA, Argentina
7. María Sol Ruiz, CONICET-UBA, Argentina
8. Martina Radice, CONICET, Argentina
9. Matías Capella, Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral, Argentina
10. Mila Ferraz de Oliveira Martins, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Brazil
11. Paul Rosas Santiago,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, Mexico
12. Renato Augusto Corrêa dos Santos, University of São Paulo, Brazil
13. Valentina Gascue, Universidad de la República, Uruguay

“Early-career researchers are literally the future of science. Connecting like-minded individuals at this stage in their careers, and fostering the sense of an international interdependent community among them offers the hope that the future of research will be all about openness and collaboration.” – Damian Pattinson, eLife’s Executive Director

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