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Working group for quality criteria

The working group for quality criteria was established to create criteria for the platform that are as objective, traceable and, above all, publicly visible as possible.

Head: Florian Heigl and Daniel Dörler, BOKU University

At the annual platform meeting of Österreich forscht on 1 March 2017, the partners decided to set up a working group on quality criteria for citizen science projects. This became necessary because, due to new funding programmes and the level of awareness of citizen science that has been achieved in the meantime, more and more projects consider themselves as citizen science, which also requested to be included in Österreich forscht. Up to this point, projects were examined by the platform coordinators for consistency with the different definitions of citizen science before they were accepted. In order to create objective, comprehensible and, above all, transparent criteria for the future, the working group for quality criteria was founded. The working group consists of project leaders and partners of Österreich forscht and is headed by Florian Heigl and Daniel Dörler.

Goals

  1. Development of binding quality criteria for citizen science projects on Österreich forscht - successfully completed
    At the Austrian Citizen Science Conference 2018, the finalised quality criteria were presented. From March 2017 to February 2018, a total of 20 criteria were created to which all projects on Österreich forscht had to adapt. You can read about how this process was designed and what impact it had on Österreich forscht in an article in Citizen Science:Theory and Practice.
  2. Continuous assessment of incoming project listings on Österreich forscht - ongoing
    After the criteria were finalised, the listing process was described transparently on Österreich forscht. The working group has set itself the goal of continuously reviewing the incoming applications for listing and providing assistance in fulfilling the criteria. The aim is to conduct a dialogue with the project leaders, which will lead to a positive result.
  3. Creation of assistance and development of a mentoring network on Österreich forscht - ongoing
    In order to prevent misunderstandings in the interpretation of the criteria and to make the listing process as simple as possible, assistance (e.g. FAQs) should be developed. In addition, a mentoring network is to be created in Austria, in which experienced project leaders as well as AG members will support new projects in fulfilling the criteria.

Mentoring programme

In order to facilitate the implementation of the quality criteria in one's own project, a mentoring programme has been launched. The people listed in the mentoring programme are happy to provide support with questions about the quality criteria and citizen science in general. They have experience in the implementation of the criteria and were partly involved in the formulation of the criteria themselves. If you would like to list a project on Österreich forscht and receive support, please write to a mentor who best fits your questions.

Publications of the working group for quality criteria

More links

Quality criteria for citizen science projects at the University of Münster

Criteria for Citizen Science Projects at the Citizen Science Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich

 

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