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 should sign up for the dedicated 2024 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 be the named Lead Applicant on only one expression of interest but may be a team member on as many as you wish. Each project should have only one Lead Applicant (no co-Leads).

How many people can be on a team?
Teams must have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 team members.

Who can be in a team eligible for the AMR Student Innovation Award?
The majority of the team members must be students. There may be one named non-student ‘mentor’ on the team. Teams must indicate that they are entering for this award on the research team form as these entries will be judged separately. A student should be named as the Lead Applicant, and would be expected to present the work if chosen for the live presentation round of judging.

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, 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.

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 an email confirmation once you are accepted. This can take up to two weeks.

What platforms or software can participants use?
Participants can build on any hardware or software platform and use any software available to them. We do not want to limit your creativity.

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 clearly delineated on the EOI.

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 and X. Winning teams will be invited to submit an abstract to ESCMID Global 2025 or ASM Microbe 2025. 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 template 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 should not be more than 5 pages long (excluding the cover page and references). References should be included.

How will the Expression of Interest be judged?
Expressions of Interest will be reviewed by Vivli to ensure they meet basic high-level criteria:

• Data is available in the AMR register
• Have a minimum of 2 and maximum of 5 team members
• 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. Entries for the AMR Student Innovation Award category will be judged separately.

Each solution will be judged on methodology and design as well as:

1. Innovation – how creative is this idea, technique or solution?
2. Impact – how would you rate the impact of this solution or tool on the field if successfully implemented?

• 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 decided by the highest scores – if there is a tie, the judges’ decision will be final.

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

Winning teams are required to post final solutions on an open-source forum (e.g. GitHub or OSF or similar repository).

What is the cost to attend the event?
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 Data Challenge Slack channel. Vivli will respond within 2 working days.

Deadline for submitting an expression of interest: Midnight Eastern Time July 28, 2024 August 11, 2024

Deadline for uploading final submission document: 30 days from the date the Lead Applicant is notified that the data request has been approved

Date applicants notified of shortlist: Sep/Oct 2024

Date for finalists video/Zoom pitch: Oct/Nov 2024

Winners announced: November 2024

Deadline for publishing outcomes to an open-source forum: Nov 30, 2024

Deadline for winners to submit their abstract to ESCMID Global 2025: Nov 27, 2024, OR to ASM Microbe 2025: TBD (usually December).