Six-Year Grant From Arcadia Fuels SPARC Activities

Information Industry News

Washington DC | September 20, 2024

SPARC is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $6 million grant from Arcadia, a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge. 

The 6-year grant will extend SPARC’s work on policies and practices that ensure immediate, equitable, and free sharing of research articles and data, and to maximize the equity gains enabled by open access to research. Arcadia’s support will advance SPARC efforts to integrate policy implementation with wider structural shifts—including research assessment reform, development of equitable publishing models, cultivating early-career leaders in open research, and evolving new norms—that make progress towards open research more durable. 

Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC, said, “The next six years will be pivotal in defining the future of open access. Arcadia’s support will extend SPARC’s ability to serve as an effective catalyst for securing a future for open research that prioritizes the interests of community over commercialization. We are honored to have the support of Arcadia as we work towards our vision of ensuring that sharing knowledge is a human right.”

SPARC, a project of the New Venture Fund, is a non-profit advocacy organization that supports systems for research and education that are open by default and equitable by design. We believe everyone should be able to access and contribute to the knowledge that shapes our world. 

Arcadia is a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge. Since 2002 Arcadia has awarded more than $1.2 billion to organizations around the world.