Call for Nominations for the 2019 RDA Technical Advisory Board

RDA is seeking candidates for the annual Technical Advisory Board (TAB) election, to be held in October and November 2019.  TAB Terms are for three (3) years. We encourage participation from RDA members at all stages of their careers. Please note that current members of RDA’s Council, Secretariat, and Organizational Advisory Board are not eligible for TAB membership. 

Nominations will be accepted until 23:59 UTC on 15 September 2019. See below for more detail.

What does TAB do?

TAB is responsible for the technical direction of the RDA and provides technical expertise and advice to the Council, as well as helping to develop and review RDA Working and Interest Groups to promote their impact and effectiveness.  Among other tasks, TAB Members:

• engage with the RDA membership and feed their ideas and TAB perspectives into RDA processes and strategies;
• evaluate proposed Working Groups and Interest Groups;
• act as liaisons to endorsed Working and Interest Groups;
• facilitate relevant communication and coordination across the various WGs and IGs; and
• work with RDA Working Groups to promote adoption and effectiveness of their Outputs.

But that’s not all!

The Technical Advisory Board also provides strategic insight into the current and future direction of RDA, and each member’s own strengths are drawn upon regularly.  Expertise and advice could take the form of reviewing new Working Groups or Interest Groups, responding to RDA membership input, working with Council, or any number of other ways.

Much more information is available in the document TAB: What we do and how we do it on the RDA Web site.

Why are we looking for new TAB Members?

RDA conducts TAB elections on a yearly basis, coinciding with the year's even-numbered Plenary. At these times, a set of TAB members rotates off after their 3-year-terms come to an end.

Four of the RDA TAB members’ terms are ending in September 2019. The four TAB members stepping down may run again.

Who does TAB need?

There are 14 TAB members, and 4 are stepping down in this cycle. As a result of a decision made at the Council meeting in July 2017, the 2019 election to TAB will again elect 5 members to replace the 4 who are rotating off after their 3-year terms are complete. The total number of TAB members will, therefore, increase to 15 after this year’s TAB Election.

There are balance criteria to ensure that disciplines and regions are adequately represented.

The Regional criterion is no more than 6 but no fewer than 3 TAB members from each of

• North America and South America
• Europe and Africa
• Asia and Oceania

The additional criterion of Discipline is applied to achieve a sufficient breadth of expertise. The Discipline criterion is based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) classification (see https://www.oecd.org/science/inno/38235147.pdf for the sub-classifications under each category).

The major categories are:

• Natural sciences
• Engineering and technology
• Medical and health sciences
• Agricultural Sciences
• Social sciences
• Humanities

No more than 5 TAB members can be from any of the listed disciplines. There is no minimum number of TAB members required per discipline.

A more complete description of the entire TAB Election Process and application of the balancing criteria is available via the TAB RDA page, https://rd-alliance.org/about-rda/our-leadership/rda-technical-advisory-board.html. 

Interested?  Here’s how to apply!

Any current RDA member may self-nominate or be nominated by others. 

Not sure if you are an RDA member?  Do you have an account on our website (rd-alliance.org)?  Yes? Then you’re a member!  If not, sign up now!

Know someone who would be perfect for the role?  Encourage them to apply!

To apply, please fill in the candidacy form at https://rd-alliance.org/tab-elections-2019-call-nominations.

Each candidate must have a minimum of three (3) RDA members willing to second their nomination. Seconders must send a simple one-sentence statement to the RDA Secretariat (enquiries@rd-alliance.org) stating that they support the nomination of the candidate.

Applications and seconds are due by 23:59 UTC on 15 September 2019.

For each candidate with a complete nomination package, i.e., completed candidacy form and supporting statements from 3 seconders, their statement and photo will be posted on the RDA website.  Note that the seconders will not be posted.

Elections will open on 23 October 2019, at Plenary 14 in Helsinki, Finland, and close on 6 November 2019 (two weeks later). All RDA members will be asked to vote.

Still have unanswered questions?

Current TAB members will be happy to discuss the time commitments, working procedures, and other elements of TAB membership. Find a list of current and past TAB members here: https://rd-alliance.org/about-rda/our-leadership/rda-technical-advisory-board.html

Additional information is available from the RDA Secretariat at enquiries@rd-alliance.org.