Join the Data Carpentry Governance Committee

Join the Data Carpentry Governance Committee and help guide the strategic development of the project!

Following the successful recruitment of new members to Governance Committees for Library Carpentry and Software Carpentry, we are calling for volunteers from the Data Carpentry community to become Lesson Program Governors for the project.

What is a Lesson Program Governor?

LPGCs oversee the strategy of the lesson program, advocate for the project in their networks, and act as a point of contact for the project e.g., liaising with the Board of Directors, the Core Team, and the wider community. Learn more about the powers and responsibilities of the committees in a previous blog post and check out the Lesson Program Governors Handbook for other resources that support this community role.

Data Carpentry differs from other lesson programs due to the diverse range of curricula. We do not expect individual Governors or the committee as a whole to have expertise in every domain covered by the current set of Data Carpentry workshops. Instead, the Data Carpentry Governance Committee will collaborate with our Curriculum Advisors and the Core Team to guide the overall development of the lesson program.

One example of the kind of high-level strategic guidance needed from the Governance Committee will be a determination of whether new curricula should be adopted into the lesson program. This will require Governors to have a strong understanding of the principles and practices that are important when working with research data in general.

Other benefits of becoming a Lesson Program Governor include:

• Opportunities to have a direct and lasting impact on the future of Data Carpentry.
• Expand your professional network and gain further experience as a community leader.
• Represent the project at conferences and elsewhere.

Lesson Program Governance Committees are supported by a dedicated liaison from the Core Team and encouraged to collaborate with other elements of the community to have impact on the project.

Since most responsibility for the development of the existing curricula lies elsewhere, we anticipate the time requirement for the Data Carpentry Governance Committee to be lower than for other lesson programs, approximately 1-2 hours each month.

How to apply

To volunteer to join the Data Carpentry Governance Committee, please fill out this short form. Responses will be reviewed by the Curriculum Team and continuing members of the committee, scoring from this rubric. Incoming committee members will be onboarded by the current committees, including a discussion of ongoing projects and committee operations.

Please complete the form by the end of Tuesday 10th March 2026 (anywhere on Earth).

Contact

Contact the Curriculum Team with questions about Lesson Program Governance Committees and/or the application and onboarding process.