FAQs

I would like to participate but I don’t have any teammates, is there scope to match me with a team?
Individuals or teams who lack teammates or particular skillsets can sign up for the dedicated 2026 Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge Slack channel and post a message in the #I-want-to- join-a-team channel to advise other researchers they are interested in a collaboration.

Who can enter the Data Challenge?
Participants from all backgrounds, skills, genders are welcome. Prior experience is also not a requirement.

Vivli cannot share data with researchers from certain restricted countries (Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Syria) due to current US federal regulations.

Can I submit more than one proposal?
You may serve as the Lead Applicant on only one expression of interest. However, you can participate as a team member on multiple submissions. Each project must have a single Lead Applicant—co-Lead Applicants are not permitted.

How many people can be on a team?
Teams must have 2-5 members.

Can non-student teams win a student award, or can student teams win non-student awards? 

No, only student teams can receive a student award, and only non-student teams can receive non-student awards.  

Student teams may only have 1 non-student team member, who is not the Lead Applicant.

What do I enter in the affiliation field on the research team form?
Please enter your current employer (if applicable), university etc.

If there are applications in similar research areas, will Vivli match similar teams together based on project idea?

Vivli is unable to facilitate match-making and collaboration further than providing the Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge Slack Channel. If you know of a group who proposed a similar idea you may collaborate, but maximum team size is 5 individuals.

If there are applications in similar research areas, is there scope to collaborate to provide richer insights and reduce replication?
We are unable to facilitate collaborations at the pre-selection stage. If you know of a group who proposed a similar idea you may collaborate, but maximum team size should be 5 people.

I have entered a previous Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge – can I enter again?
Yes, as long as you have a new project idea.

I’ve tried submitting the Team Form but I do not have an AMR Register Data Request ID number. How do I get one? 

Prior to submitting the Team Form, teams are required to submit their Expression of Interest through the AMR Register. The AMR Register Data Request ID for the Expression of Interest is the ID that needs to be included. 

What does it mean to be the Lead Applicant? 

The Lead Applicant is the individual who will be the primary point of contact with Vivli during the Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge. They are responsible for ensuring that: 

• Ensuring documents and information are provided to Vivli as needed 

• the team is scheduled for finalists presentations 

• There is a presenter at the finalist presentations 

• Receiving and distributing the travel award amongst the remaining team members as agreed 

Is there a deadline to submit an Expression of Interest?
See Data Challenge Timelines below.

Do you have my Expression of Interest? I didn’t receive an email confirmation. 
After your EOI is submitted, you will receive a notification from the AMR Register if the data request was approved or not.  This notification may take up to two weeks. 

What platforms or software can participants use?
There is no limitation on which platforms or software participants can use. 

Can we bring our own data and/or software to the challenge?
Yes, teams can supplement the data available on the AMR Register with their own data, and may use any software available to them. These datasets should be described on the EOI. If the data was used in the Final Submission Document then the dataset(s) need to be disclosed in the Cover Letter Form. 

What should we do if we want to use an additional dataset that wasn’t included in our original request? 

If your team would like to access datasets not listed in your original EOI, you can submit a new data request. In the research summary, note that the request is for supplemental data related to your Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge EOI, and include your original Data Request Number. 

At the conclusion of the Challenge, will it be possible to publish the outcome review in a scientific journal?
Yes, winning submissions will have the opportunity to publish in a Wellcome Open research collection, otherwise they are expected to be published on an open-source forum, such as OSF, Zenodo or GitHub, but we would encourage all participants to publish their outcomes.

The significant outputs of this data challenge may be tools, applications, reports, publications or software. As strong proponents of Open Science, to ensure that the outcomes of the Data Challenge can be used for the greatest impact, participating teams are expected to make their outputs openly and publicly accessible. All final solutions will be published in an open access journal, platform or repository, such as OSF or GitHub. Teams will be best placed to identify the most appropriate repository for their outputs and will be expected to share them in line with the timeline outlined in the FAQs on the data challenge webpage. Outputs should be accompanied by documentation or metadata to allow the solutions to be interpreted and used by others.

Links will be posted on the AMR website at https://amr.vivli.org/, and shared by Vivli on LinkedIn. Winning teams will be invited to submit an abstract to an infectious disease conference. The conference may include ESCMID Global, ASM Microbe 2027 or ID week. Other regional or international infectious disease conferences are acceptable if approved prior to abstract submission. Any research solutions that are created remain the intellectual property of the research team(s). Delays or restrictions on data or software sharing may be appropriate in limited cases to protect intellectual property.

All finalist teams will be invited to submit a publication to the peer reviewed Wellcome Open Research Journal. The Vivli AMR Open Data Reuse Data Challenge is a “Collection” or compilation of articles from data challenges related to the AMR Register, funded by Wellcome. https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/collections/vivli/about

Should the final submission be in a particular format, is there a word count, and should it include referencing?

A Cover Page Form and guidance on the length of the document and what to include can be found here. There is no word count for the final submission, but the document cannot exceed 5 pages (not including references). 

What happens if our analysis only uses Global AMR R&D Hub or external datasets and not any from the AMR Register? 

If your Final Submission does not include analysis conducted using at least one eligible dataset from the AMR Register, it will be considered ineligible for judging and will be removed from the review process. 

How will the Expression of Interest be judged?

Expressions of Interest will not be judged and will not be compared to the Final Submission Document. They will only be reviewed by Vivli to ensure they meet basic high-level criteria for access to the data: 

• Data is available in the AMR register 

• Pose a scientific question related to AMR 

How will the final submission be judged?

• Each submission document will be scored by an independent judging panel.

Submissions will be judged on the following criteria

Methodology

• Are the methods appropriate to answer the scientific question? 

• Is there a novel methods application or development? 

Design 

• Is the study design appropriate to answer the scientific question? 

Innovation 

• How creative is this idea, technique or solution? 

Impact 

• How would you rate the impact of this solution or tool on the field if successfully implemented? 

• Can the solution be applied more broadly or scaled to other areas? 

• Will the work encourage behavioral or policy change? 

A short list of finalists will be chosen for the “pitch” phase involving a live Zoom presentation. This pitch phase will enable the judges to have an interactive Q&A session and allow finalists to bring a demonstration dimension and more depth to their solutions. 

• Awardees will be selected based on judges’ evaluations and additional considerations. In the event of a tie or at the judges’ discretion, final decisions will be made accordingly. 

Will student teams be judged alongside non-student teams? 

For the student awards, student teams will be evaluated separately and will only be judged against other student teams. 

• For the Global AMR R&D Hub Cross-Domain award, only teams who used the Global AMR R&D Hub data and at least 1 AMR Register dataset will be eligible for the award, and student and non-student teams will be evaluated together for this one award. 

Who will own any intellectual property (IP) produced during the Data Challenge?
All IP produced during the Data Challenge will remain the property of the research team. 

All finalists are required to provide open-source forum linkages (e.g. GitHub or OSF or similar repository) to their projects prior to Finalist Presentations. 

What is the cost to participate?
There are no fees to take part in the challenge. The organizers aim to make the Challenge as open and inclusive as possible. 

Approach to selection
We are looking to fund a wide range of high-quality proposals to reflect a diversity of approaches, foci and geography. We will be taking these factors into consideration when we make our award decisions. 

What if this FAQ didn’t answer my questions?
Reach out to Vivli through the dedicated Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge Slack channel. Vivli will respond within 2 working days. 

Deadline for submitting an expression of interest: Midnight Eastern Time May 26th, 2026.

Deadline for uploading final submission document: 56 days from the date the Lead Applicant is notified that the data request has been approved

Date applicants notified of shortlist: Early September 2026

Date for finalists video/Zoom pitch: Early October 2026

Winners announced: Mid-October 2026

Deadline for winners to submit their abstract to an infectious disease conference: IMARI 2027: TBD (October 2026), ESCMID Global 2027: TBD (November 2026), OR to ASM Microbe 2027: TBD (January 2027).