Mentoring and peer-to-peer support programme

What is the mentoring and peer-to-peer support programme?

FIDELIS will provide access to a pool of FIDELIS and external mentors on specific topics, aiming to build capacity and to lay the foundation of the peer-to-peer support ethos that the FIDELIS network will thrive on.

Apply to become the next FIDELIS Mentor

A strong repository community that shares knowledge is a core element of the FIDELIS Network. Through our co-developed support programmes, FIDELIS will facilitate mentoring and peer-to- peer knowledge exchange to support skills development and to foster collaborative approaches to tackling common challenges. Financial support will be provided to external mentors to enable them to co-design and participate in one of the defined support programmes. We will have two open calls for mentors to apply to join our mentoring and peer-to-peer support programmes over the life of the project. Topics for the support programmes align with one or more elements of the Transparent Trustworthy Repository Attributes Matrix (TTRAM).

Topics offered for 2026 support programme

The five topic areas being offered for the first open call which launches on 27 February 2026 are listed below.

Support Programme #1 : Trustworthy at national and international levels

Trustworthiness is a continuous journey, and all Trustworthy Digital Repositories and those aspiring to become one encounter many similar challenges and experiences. National and international connections can be useful for peer exchange and to build required or desired policies, standards, and guidance together. This programme aims to provide support for knowledge exchange and welcomes mentors with experiences in a wide range of self-assessments and certification for trustworthiness. This may include:

Experience in applying for - or renewing - formal certified status (e.g. CoreTrustSeal, Nestor seal, ISO 16363);
Experience in self-assessing repository practices;
Experiences with national infrastructures and collaboration initiatives;
Experiences with developing national policies and/or shared standards;
Experience in making information about the repository governance, policies, sustainability and/or workflows transparent
Experience in aligning repository functions with guiding principles such as FAIR, CARE, and TRUST.

Please note that the list of examples above is not exhaustive and we welcome additional suggestions from applicants on experiences that might be shared. The support programme will be created to provide insights and advice for peers looking to start or advance their own certification process, or to continuously improve their trustworthiness and transparency independently from such schemes. This support programme topic relates to TTRAM Activity/Function 14 Policy & Standards.

The FIDELIS mentors you will be working with: Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) [lead], GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Gdańsk University of Technology, French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Recherche Data Gouv

Support Programme #2 : Data curation, access and preservation policies

Trustworthy Digital Repositories play a critical role in providing long-term access to data that are findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR). Repositories often have a wide range of policies and procedural documents in place which govern what deposits will be accepted and from whom; which format(s) will be accepted; the level of curation that deposited items will receive; and how long deposited items will be retained. Increasingly, there is an emphasis on making much of this information transparent to improve trustworthiness. This programme aims to provide support for knowledge exchange about formal and informal approaches that are being defined or undertaken within repositories to define and implement policies and to make this work more transparent. We welcome applications representing a broad range of experiences under this theme. This may include:

Experience in developing repository policies,
Experience in implementing repository policies,
Engaging with relevant stakeholders on policy development and implementation,
Assessing resources required to implement and/or monitor policies,
Harmonisation of policies across repositories and/or other stakeholders,
Making policies and procedural information more transparent,
Aligning with policies of other stakeholders (e.g., funding bodies; disciplines, RPOs)

Please note that the list of examples above is not exhaustive and we welcome additional suggestions from applicants on experiences that might be shared.This support programme topic relates to TTRAM Activity/Function 14 Policy & Standards.

The FIDELIS mentors you will be working with: Digital Curation Centre (DCC) [lead], GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Swiss Bioinformatics Institute (SIB)

Support Programme #3 : Fostering engagement between repositories and end users

Repository services and functionality should reflect the needs of the communities they serve. Engagement with end users helps to ensure that the repository is fit for purpose but can also lead to better co-curation of content during the earlier stages in the research lifecycle and increased use of deposited content. This programme will provide support for knowledge exchange on approaches to fostering engagement between repositories and their users. We welcome applications representing a broad range of experiences under this theme. This may include:

Experience in gathering user requirements,
Experience in supporting creation and improvement of metadata and other documentation,
Highlighting the benefits of using (curated) repositories,
Promoting the repositories to different stakeholders,
Evaluating ways and formats of communication including language use,
Relationship building with depositors,
Developing community engagement plans.

Please note that the list of examples above is not exhaustive and we welcome additional suggestions from applicants on experiences that might be shared. This support programme topic relates to TTRAM Activity/Function : External Engagement

The FIDELIS mentors you will be working with: The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) [lead], University of Belgrade , Digital Curation Centre (DCC)

Support Programme #4 : Active Data Curation for technical repository staff

All actions that lead to trustworthiness require good foundation stones - namely, the technical infrastructures on which repositories rely. Both at hardware and software levels, building/maintaining a qualitative infrastructure and actively working on enabling proper data curation are key to many higher level activities. This support programme welcomes mentors with experiences in building, maintaining and improving high quality technical infrastructures for digital repositories, that enable and facilitate data curation. This may include:

Provision of hardware, software and IT services, including experience with service management methodologies,
Experience in providing resilient infrastructures with appropriate mechanisms (failover, loadbalancing, backup processes, etc.)
Experience with assessing and/or advancing the levels of curation and preservation offered by the repository,
Experience with ensuring digital objects meet a defined level of quality and standards compliance before they are made available for reuse,
Experience with providing discovery systems and making metadata available for harvesting,
Experience in providing secure access to sensitive data,
Experience with setting up workflows and approaches to meet defined criteria for access and reuse and potentially to enable preservation, including any curation steps like conversions to file formats and any additions to metadata,
Monitoring the user community technical needs,
Experience with creating Technical Infrastructure Statement, Technical Infrastructure Plan, and/or IT Service Management methodologies.

The FIDELIS mentors you will be working with: French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Recherche Data Gouv [lead], Gdańsk University of Technology, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Belgrade

Support Programme #5 : Training approaches for repository staff and end users

Running a trustworthy and transparent repository service requires the availability of skilled staff and the effective management of human resources to fulfil the repository’s current mission and to realise future aspirations. This programme aims to provide support for knowledge exchange about formal or informal approaches that can be undertaken within repositories to build capacity among staff and to make capacity building activities more visible and reusable. We welcome applications representing a broad range of experiences under this theme. This may include:

Mapping staff competency against repository functions,
Identifying knowledge and skills gaps,
Defining skills development plans and learning paths for staff,
Improving pedagogic capabilities amongst educators and trainers,
Making educational resources more reusable and transparent,
Facilitating peer-to-peer knowledge exchange activities,
Securing external skills to fill gaps,
Resourcing professional development for staff,
Provide support for career progression,

The FIDELIS mentors you will be working with: Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Digital Curation Centre (DCC), Gdańsk University of Technology, Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS)

Interested in applying? Access the open calls grants platform available!

Apply to be the next FIDELIS Mentor

Interested in receiving mentoring support? Fill out the form below.

Expression of interest for mentees

What are we looking for in mentors?

You do not need to be an ‘expert’ to take part as a mentor for a given support programme topic. You just need to have some relevant experience to share.

We want to provide a broad range of experiences and perspectives for each support programme which may include implementing a particular technical tool or approach; supporting and/or engaging repository users; serving a particular domain or user community; policy development and implementation; longer-term sustainability; developing and/or adhering with standards. Please note that this list is not exhaustive and we welcome you to suggest other aspects of experience that you could offer. The experience you share does not always need to be positive. We welcome applications from those with experiences that didn’t quite go to plan as well as those with success stories. Both are equally valuable!

Up to five successful applicants to the open call for mentors will work with FIDELIS mentors to co-design a short programme for the specific support programme. Together, you will determine the number and timing of the virtual meetings and/or workshops that will facilitate knowledge exchange. Please note that the mentoring or peer-to-peer support programme must be provided virtually. FIDELIS will provide the technical infrastructure to enable this.

Below is the overview of the expected contributions from successful applicants.

Overview of planned activities

Training for the mentors on the approach to be taken and expected outcomes	0.5 days
(May 2026) Thematic leads and mentors work to develop the mentoring support programme based on the experience that is represented across the FIDELIS team and mentors. Aspects to be co-defined include the number of sessions, how many mentees they can accept; if observers can be accepted, length of sessions, communications between sessions, any homework, feedback from mentees to demonstrate knowledge exchange.	2.0 days
(June-September 2026) Preparing for and delivering the mentoring and peer to peer support programme. The exact number of sessions and timing will be defined by the pool of mentors for each support programme.	4.0 days
(October 2026) Preparing for and taking part in a FIDELIS Mentor peer exchange session (for mentors to share their experiences on participation).	1.5 day
Drafting of a co-authored FAIR Implementation Story to share the key lessons learned. This will take place during October.	2.0 days
Option to contribute to an open webinar to promote the implementation story and to share the findings more widely.
Total time commitment for mentors between May-December 2026	10 days

What you need to know before submitting:

Your application must make clear what practical skills, experience or knowledge you have in relation to the specific support programme topic (e.g., trustworthy digital repositories). Remember we also welcome the sharing of challenges and lessons learned from unsuccessful approaches as these can be as useful, if not more, than simply sharing success stories.
The support programmes will be delivered within a 5 month time frame (between June and October 2026). Please note that this is the maximum time limit for each support programme to run and we anticipate that most activities will be delivered over a much shorter timeframe. You will work together with the FIDELIS and other external mentors for your support programme to define the programme.
The support programme will result in the publication of a short Trustworthy and FAIR-enabling Implementation Story which will be co-authored between the FIDELIS and external mentors and the mentees.
The story will be published to our Zenodo community
The opportunity to share the content of the FAIR Implementation Story via a virtual webinar coordinated by FIDELIS.

What FIDELIS will provide:

Financial support for successful applicants to co-design and deliver the support programme with FIDELIS mentors. A maximum of 5,000 euros will be paid to successful applicants upon successful completion of the support programme.
Technical infrastructure and administrative support to schedule and deliver the virtual meetings and/or workshops.
Pedagogical support for the mentors to guide the co-development of the support programme.
A template to support co-authoring of the Implementation Story and peer review of the story.
Coordination of the open webinar to share the outcomes of the support programme