LSH

TDCC-LSH FAIR Fellowship Programme: The journey has started 

The TDCC-LSH FAIR Fellowship Programme is a unique opportunity for professionals working in the Life Sciences & Health domains to dedicate focused time, 0.2 FTE over one year, to address real-world data challenges in their organizations. By pairing fellows with experienced coaches, bringing them together in a cohort for peer leaning and providing structured support strengthen how research data is managed, shared, and utilized across the community. The programme is funded as a TDCC LSH bottleneck project by NWO.  

Why This TDCC-LSH FAIR Fellowship Programme Matters

Despite widespread recognition of the importance of the FAIR principles, many researchers and data stewards struggle to implement them in practice. The challenges are numerous: technical barriers, organizational constraints, limited time, and the need for specialized expertise. The TDCC-LSH FAIR Fellowship Program addresses these obstacles head-on by providing: 

  • Dedicated time and resources for fellows to focus on FAIR data implementation 
  • Expert coaching matched to fellows' specific use cases and organizational contexts 
  • Collaborative learning through a cohort model where fellows share experiences and solutions 
  • Tailored training sessions to address common challenges across the cohort, such as FAIR workflows, interoperability, ethical s & legal considerations, etc.  
  • Practical outcomes that benefit not only individual researchers, data stewards and their own institutes, but entire research communities 

Our Approach

The program brings together four key stakeholder groups: 

Fellows: Data stewards or others involved in data stewardship in the Life Sciences and Health domains who bring real-world use cases and a commitment to advancing FAIR practices in their work. 

Organizations: Research institutions that support their fellows by providing time and infrastructure, recognizing that FAIR data investments benefit the entire organization. 

Coaches: FAIR data experts from different scientific disciplines with diverse specializations, from data management and semantic interoperability to technical infrastructure, who provide personalized guidance throughout the fellowship. 

TDCC-LSH Project Team: The coordinating team that facilitates the program and training curriculum, connects stakeholders, and ensures knowledge sharing across the fellowship community and beyond.

Where We Are

The FAIR Fellowship is taking shape with 11 organizations now confirmed and two in progress, each bringing forward a fellow with a use case. Following a productive meeting with coaches, we have successfully matched almost all fellows. We are waiting on two more fellows to provide additional details on their use cases before finalizing their pairings. 

We are now entering the implementation phase where fellows, coaches, and the TDCC LSH project coordinators have introductory meetings that will help everyone prepare for what is ahead. We are also reaching out to the organizations who did not bring forward a fellow to understand what challenges prevented their participation and whether there is anything we can do to support them now or in the future. 

What Is Ahead 

Kick-off Phase: Fellows, coaches, and project team come together in introductory meetings to align expectations, discuss use cases, and establish working relationships. The official kick-off takes place on November 27th, 2025, where fellows present their projects to the cohort and all together, we shape the plans for the next 12 months.  

Implementation Phase: Over the course of one year, fellows work on their specific use cases under the guidance of their coaches, addressing challenges in areas such as metadata standards, data repositories, interoperability frameworks. 

Knowledge Sharing: Throughout the program, fellows participate in collaborative learning and training sessions, and have the opportunity to share insights, challenges, and solutions with their peers. This collective learning amplifies the program's impact beyond individual projects. 

Outcomes and Dissemination: All training materials, tools, and best practices developed during this first fellowship round will be openly shared with the broader research community, enabling others to benefit from the fellowship experience. 

Future

This pilot programme represents the first step in what we envision as an ongoing effort to support FAIR data adoption across the Life Sciences & Health research landscape. By documenting our approach, challenges, and successes, we hope to refine the fellowship model and expand its reach in future iterations. 

The fellows, coaches, and partner organizations participating in this pilot are pioneers, helping to shape not just their own research practices but also the future of how we support FAIR data implementation across the research community. 

We're excited to embark on this journey and look forward to sharing updates, insights, and outcomes as the program unfolds. All program materials and learnings will be made openly available to benefit the entire research community. 

Contact:

  • Carla Strubbia, project coordinator Fellowship Programme 
  • Fieke Schoots, training coordinator Fellowship Programme 
  • Celia van Gelder, network manager TDCC LSH 
See also:
  • van Gelder, C. W. G., Zwiers, K., Schoots, F., Kok, R., & Strubbia, C. (2025). TDCC-LSH FAIR Fellowship Programme: Information Flyer. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17572607 
  • Two year report: van Gelder, C. W. G., Zwiers, K., Schoots, F., & Kok, R. (2024). Strengthening the Dutch data driven health & life sciences field: TDCC-LSH facts and figures September 2022- August 2024. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14292810 

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