Community Partnership#

The Catalyst Project is currently working with research institutions and non-profits located in Africa and Latin America. By joining the Catalyst Project as a Community Partner, you and your user community will have access to:

✅ A free interactive cloud computing hub for at least one year
✅ Support and technical training on how to administer 2i2c cloud infrastructure
✅ A “Train the Trainer” program to help you transfer your expertise to your user community
✅ Translation and contextualization of training materials to Spanish for Latin American communities
✅ Open science training and mentoring to develop open leadership practices for transparent and accessible research

Community Partners also play a vital role in shaping our governance model to help us sustain, scale and maximise impact in Latin America, Africa, and under-served communities around the world.

Apply to become a Community Partner

Community Partner benefits#

Cloud infrastructure#

Catalyst Project Community Partners join our network for an initial period of one year, during which time they receive access to cloud infrastructure services (a federation of JupyterHubs that are designed, configured, and managed by 2i2c – see the 2i2c Service Guide to get an idea for what this infrastructure will be like.) as well as training in how to use “the hub,” the principles of open science, and how to train other members of their team.

We can support two programming languages (Python and R), and the target workflow is interactive computing. This can be in data analysis, training or other formats that require continued interaction with the infrastructure.

Training opportunities#

Community Partners will have access to three types of training opportunities during their participation in the Catalyst Project.

Hub Champion training#

2i2c, in collaboration with MetaDocencia and The Carpentries, have developed technical training materials for communities participating in the Catalyst Project to learn how to administer the 2i2c cloud infrastructure. These training materials will be available in English and Spanish.

Train the Trainer workshop#

“Train the Trainer” workshops, based on The Carpentries Instructor Training, will support Community Leaders in training other members of the community. The workshop will be available initially in English.

Open science training#

Members of participating communities will have the opportunity to take part in a 16-week cohort training to expand their personal open science practice and bring those learnings back to their community.

More information about training

Community Partner responsibilities#

For all partnerships, there are two key roles that communities need to assign:

  • Hub Champion: A Hub Champion has the technical knowledge of user workflows within their project or organisation, and ideally has experience with cloud infrastructure in a technical capacity

  • Community Champion: A Community Champion may or may not have technical expertise. The major responsibilities of a Community Champion include:

    • Liaising with the project team and other community champions to build collaborations

    • Organising community members to participate in the OLS open science training and mentoring program

As the individual reaching out to the Catalyst Project, you may choose to take on both of these roles yourself or nominate other members of your community.

The Catalyst Project Core Team will interact with Community Partners throughout the project to understand how to improve the service to create a sustainable cloud infrastructure solution for all communities.

How to become a Catalyst Project Community Partner#

The first step in becoming a Community Partner is to complete this short application form. After submitting your application, you can expect to receive more information within five business days.

We are currently accepting applications from organisations located in Africa and Latin America. For expressions of interest from elsewhere in the world, please send us an email: catalyst-project-core-team@googlegroups.com.

View current community partners