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INTRODUCING THE 2024

Catalyst Grant Awards

The Catalyst Grant is an international initiative to support innovation in new software tools and technologies to advance research and create meaningful change.  The program supports and invests in early-stage ideas in the novel use of technology with an award of up to £25,000 for the most promising ideas that aid science and further its impact on society. This year, we are focussing on Research Integrity.

About the 2024 Challenge

In 2024, Digital Science is looking to support entrepreneurs in developing new and innovative ways to address Research Integrity. Trust in research has never been more important with increasing issues of plagiarism, falsification, research ethics, publication ethics, financial mismanagement and conflicts of interest. UKRIO has reported a 71% increase in formal requests regarding integrity issues since 2007, with a third from the health and biomedicine sector. The greatest increases are in issues of good practice and governance, showing that integrity is broader than just dishonest practices. Now more than ever, we want to support the scientific community in finding new ways to ensure integrity in research.

Area of Focus

We are looking for ideas for novel applications of Research Integrity and Research Security in areas such as:

  • Accountability and Transparency: Enhanced mechanisms for monitoring and auditing funded research, ensuring accountability and transparency in the use of public funds.
  • Ethical Standards: Improved frameworks and tools for maintaining high ethical standards, preventing misconduct such as plagiarism, data fabrication, and falsification
  • Efficiency and Productivity: Streamlined processes and tools for ensuring research integrity and security, leading to more efficient and productive research environments.
  • Global Collaboration: Harmonised standards and practices facilitate international research collaborations and drive global scientific progress.

The Catalyst Grant was born of our desire to help early-stage software ideas come to fruition. We invest in the community, and we come from the community. Our team is made up of people with research backgrounds and decades of experience within research software. For us, the grant’s real value is in starting conversations, some leading to awards, but the majority to the sharing of advice, the making of introductions and the cultivation of ideas.

How to enter

Applying is easy,  with no need for a formal business plan:

  • Complete the form by clicking the Apply Now button
  • Attach your submission (or link to it if it’s online)
  • Update your entry any time between now and the closing date

Closing date: October 14, 2024 (12:00pm BST)

Why enter?

Catalyst Grant aims to support innovative initiatives:

  • Receive up to £25,000 equity-free funding
  • Access Digital Science’s network of technical and research experts
  • Raise the profile of your project through our global presence
  • Be part of advancing research and creating societal impact

Hear from some of our previous winners

Learn more about the Catalyst Grant impact from our 2023 Catalyst Grant recipients:

2023 Winner, Atom

Atom aims to build an “end-to-end system” using neural matching, Generative AI, and automated workflows “to help researchers manage grants.

2023 Winner, Future Metric

Future Metric seeks to develop novel research impact metrics, using predictive AI modeling to help better understand research impact ahead of time.

More about the 2024 Challenge

How we have benefited previous winners

Resource Library

Find out more about Research Integrity at Digital Science.

For any other inquiries, we’d love to hear from you

Steve Scott, Director of Portfolio Development

Steve Scott | Director of Portfolio Development

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