The panel of judges, who reviewed the many excellent candidates nominated throughout the submission period, selected Aleksandra for her impactful work and emphasised her passion in promoting Open Science practices, her understanding of the complexities of building repositories, her commitment to the RDA community, and her strong belief in the value of international collaboration.
GÉANT’s Chief Communications Officer Cathrin Stöver commented: “Aleksandra has the energy, knowledge and humility that would have appealed to Sarah. I can imagine they would have been kindred spirits.”
As recipient of the award, Aleksandra received a trophy, a fund to attend Open Science trainings and events, and a series of opportunities to raise awareness and visibility of her work.
Congratulations to Aleksandra for becoming the first recipient of this special award!
Honouring the memory of Sarah Jones
Sarah Louise Jones was born in 1982 in Blackpool, UK. She worked at HATII (Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute) at the University of Glasgow for 15 years on various Research Data Management and digital preservation projects and services. For most of this time she was part of the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) where she covered different roles including Associate Director. Sarah moved to the Netherlands in the summer of 2020 and joined GÉANT as EOSC Engagement Manager, where she supported National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) with Open Science.
Sarah Jones was well known in the international Open Science community, with long involvement in the fields of data management, data policy, FAIR data, and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Sarah invested a huge amount of time and effort into advocating for true openness. She believed in community and its power, and was a true believer in the RDA. She said it was ‘her tribe’. A fantastic colleague and a wonderful friend, Sarah’s energy, passion, and enthusiasm was infectious. She was professional, prepared and passionate about her work and had an incredible work ethic, but she also infused her enthusiasm and energy into social networking. Sarah passed away in December 2023.
We at GÉANT continue to miss Sarah terribly. We are grateful to the RDA for establishing the Sarah Jones Award in her memory and we are proud to support this excellent initiative.
The RDA is accepting donations to maintain the ‘Sarah Jones Award’ for the coming years. If you would like to contribute to the award in Sarah’s name, you can donate to the fund at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-sarah-jones-award
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