Call 2 of Virtual Access (VA) is NOW OPEN for proposals.

20 SYNTHESYS+ partners are offering Virtual Access to their collections. Researching a collection often requires being physically present in the collection itself. Virtual Access aims to remove the reliance on physical access and trial an industry-first ‘digitisation on demand’ model. 

This is the final of two VA Calls in SYNTHESYS+, each with a total budget of c.€500,000. Call 1 projects funded include digitisation of >20,000 specimens to support research in bat-coronavirus-human interactions, and digitisation of >90,000 specimens to support IUCN Red List conservation assessment of freshwater bioindicators. You can read more about Call 1 projects currently underway on the Virtual Access page.

A proposal for Virtual Access requires coordination with those institution(s) which you name in your Request. As such, proposers must contact relevant VA Coordinator(s) by 30 April 2021 with their proposal idea. A list of VA Coordinators and their contact details can be found on our Virtual Access webpage. If you do not contact relevant VA Coordinator(s) by this date, we may be unable to process your proprosal. 

The Call closes 21 May 2021, 17.00 UK time. 

All proposals to Virtual Access will be reviewed by our external VA prioritisation panel. Projects will be funded where the resulting open data will provide a broad benefit to the global research community and contribute to addressing  Societal Challenges. 

For more details, including how to apply on the European Loans and Visits System (ELViS), please see the Virtual Access page of the SYNTHESYS website.