Serial number: 2023/October/131
Issued on: 1-November-2023
Deadline: 20-November-2023
The Collaboratory, a laboratory for pandemic and epidemic intelligence within the World Health Organization (WHO) Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, is seeking experts to serve as members of the new Collaboratory Technical Advisory Group. This Call for experts” provides information about this Technical Advisory Group, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
Background and purpose
The Collaboratory, a laboratory for pandemic and epidemic intelligence within the WHO Hub, provides a never-before-available mechanism for the public health community to collectively and collaboratively address complex public health concerns by strengthening the impact of pandemic and epidemic intelligence. This collaborative space acts as a dynamic and interactive environment for sharing information, cultivating ideas, learning from each other’s experiences, and pooling knowledge and resources. The work of the Collaboratory communities of practice will facilitate the rapid co-development of innovative analytic tools and sharing of actionable insights to complex problems, ultimately allowing better decision-making to address pandemic and epidemic risks.
The Collaboratory Technical Advisory Group (CTAG) will provide technical and policy input and advice to the Collaboratory Secretariat and Project Board to support Collaboratory activities and policies. The CTAG will propose solutions to challenges and drive the way forward, notably on aspects related to evolution of the digital architecture and analytics as well as the establishment and modes of engagement of existing and new communities of practice. The work of the CTAG will support delivery of robust and relevant outcomes of the Collaboratory by ensuring that the latest global technological and policy developments, projects, and collaborative networks in the PEI landscape, including perspectives from other disciplines, such as the social sciences and economics, are considered. The CTAG will foster connections across the PEI communities, partners, and networks globally while also leveraging vertical and horizontal collaboration across WHO.
Functions, responsibilities and activities of the Collaboratory Technical Advisory Group
The CTAG members shall have the following functions and responsibilities and will carry out the following activities:
- Attend and participate in regularly scheduled virtual and periodic face-to-face meetings of the CTAG
- Provide advice on Collaboratory technical and policy activities and direction
- Provide feedback on documents and other materials distributed prior to CTAG meetings and on an ad hoc basis
- Provide technical input, guidance, and advice about specific Collaboratory-related topics or challenges that arise
- Undertake any focused tasks related to Collaboratory areas of work as agreed with the Collaboratory Secretariat
- Bring new ideas and act as a sounding board for ideas raised by others
- Link with other partners and networks globally and ensure alignment of the Collaboratory with other PEI-related communities
- Identify and link to potential funding opportunities
- Produce regular annual reports and ad hoc interim reports
Operations of the Collaboratory Technical Advisory Group
The CTAG will meet at least once every three months virtually via video or teleconference and at least once a year in person at the WHO Hub in Berlin, Germany. The Collaboratory Secretariat may convene additional meetings. The mode of the meetings will be at the discretion of the Collaboratory Secretariat.
CTWG members are expected to attend and actively participate in meetings including in working groups, teleconferences, and interaction over email. CTWG members may, in advance of CTWG meetings, be requested to review meeting documentation and to provide their views for consideration by the CTWG.
The working language of the CTWG will be English
Further details are available in the CTAG Terms of Reference.
Who can express interest?
The CTAG will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills, and experience relevant to the pandemic and epidemic intelligence. Up to 15 individuals may be selected. External CTAG members will contribute in their personal (rather than institutional) capacity). Members are expected to have had 10 years or more of experience in their field.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from scientists and public health professionals working on topics relevant to PEI and the work of the Collaboratory. such as:
- Infectious disease epidemics and pandemics
- IT / Systems architecture
- Data science and analytics
- Surveillance and surveillance systems
- Knowledge management and integration
- Working across sectors and disciplines
Specifically, we are looking for individuals who have expertise and experience in infectious disease analytics related to PEI and in translating results and insights for public health action, and who are interested in building a culture of collaboration across PEI communities in building these analytic systems. Individuals should have strong links with existing PEI networks and partners, including those from other disciplines such as the social sciences and economics.
The selection of members of the CTAG will be made by the Collaboratory Secretariat and the Project Board in its sole discretion, also taking into account the following criteria in addition to the above relevant technical expertise: experience in international and country policy work; communication skills; and ability to work constructively with people from different cultural backgrounds and orientations. The selection of CTAG members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for membership in the CTAG, please submit the following documents by 24:00h (midnight) Geneva time on 14 November 2023 to the Collaboratory at Collaboratory@who.int with “CTAG Open Call” in the subject line:
- A cover letter, indicating your motivation to apply and how you satisfy the selection criteria. A reminder that, if selected, membership will be in your personal capacity.
- Your curriculum vitae
- A signed and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest.
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of the CTAG must be free of any real, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member is, in addition to evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise, motivation, and other criteria, dependent on WHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed.
All CTAG members will serve in their individual expert capacity and shall not represent any governments, any commercial industries or entities, any research, academic, or civil society organizations, or any other bodies, entities, institutions, or organizations. They are expected to fully comply with the Code of Conduct for WHO Experts (https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/declaration-of-interests-for-who-experts). Members will be expected to sign and return a completed confidentiality undertaking prior to the beginning of the first meeting.
At any point during the selection process, telephone interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and the Collaboratory Secretariat and/or Project Board to enable the Collaboratory personnel to ask questions relating to the applicant’s experience and expertise and/or to assess whether the applicant meets the criteria for membership in the CTAG.
If selected, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a member of a CTAG will be subject to the proposed member returning the countersigned copy of these two documents to the Collaboratory Secretariat.
The Collaboratory Secretariat reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest, to annul the open call process and reject all expressions of interest at any time without incurring any liability to the affected applicant or applicants and without any obligation to inform the affected applicant or applicants of the grounds for the action. The Collaboratory Secretariat and/or WHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the CTAG, disband the CTAG, or modify the work of the CTAG.
The Collaboratory Secretariat and/or WHO shall not in any way be obliged to reveal, or discuss with any applicant, how an expression of interest was assessed, or to provide any other information relating to the evaluation/selection process, or to state the reasons for not choosing a member.
The Collaboratory Secretariat and/or WHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.
CTAG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the CTAG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of members to participate in meetings will be covered by WHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
The appointment will be limited in time as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please send an email to Collaboratory@who.int well before the applicable deadline with “CTAG Open Call” in the subject line.