The WG Open science focuses on advocating policy recommendations for higher education and European research stakeholders on changing the academic culture towards a more open one.
The work of the Open Science working group is led by Maja Dolinar who is a doctoral candidate at University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Science should be “as open as possible and only as closed as necessary”. Open Science is the movement to make the process of creating and disseminating scientific knowledge more transparent and accessible to other researchers and society. Early-career researchers (ECRs) are particularly active in Open Science and in shaping a future in which this vision becomes a reality. This, we believe, would result in higher scientific literacy, thus boosting social and scientific discussions and technological advancement. Furthermore, more transparent communication can enable more accurate assessments of the quality of the science in question, resulting in fairer approaches to evaluation in career development and research funding.
Eurodoc is actively working to facilitate the transition to Open Science by helping to connect policymakers and researchers. For this reason, in previous years, the working group has represented Eurodoc at various international events on Open Science and connected with several stakeholders involved in initiatives aimed at making science more open.
General goals of the WG:
- to raise awareness about Open Science initiatives among early career researchers;
- to elaborate recommendations on the implementation of Open Science for universities, European institutions, and other international institutions;
- to advocate for changes in research assessment procedures such that these procedures would align with Open Science principles.
Some past activities of the working group were
- In 2019/20, the WG members and OS ambassadors prepared a proposal for the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, focusing particularly on early career researchers. Currently, the WG is focusing on following this recommendation and providing commentaries for its improvement. You can find the UNESCO statement here.
- Participation in the scoping report on research assesment: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/36ebb96c-50c5-11ec-91ac-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
The current activities of the working group are
- Since 2020, the WG has been collaborating with the Eurodoc Skills and ESCO Officers to prepare a report about the skills that ECRs form through the practice of Open Science. The recommendations will build upon and the applicability and transferability of these skills.
- In 2022/23, the WG will prepare a general statement on Open Science to be presented at Eurodoc's Annual General Meeting.
- Previously, Eurodoc had an Open Science ambassador programme. The program consisted of a series of online seminars and training sessions. During this term, the working group is looking into how to restart this program.
How to sign up for the WG mailing lists
Each working group has an email list. Here, the working groups can keep in touch between meetings, such as calling for meetings and sharing information of interest to its members.
All Eurodoc has 6 working groups open for all Early career researchers and doctoral candidates affiliated with one or more of the members (national associations) of Eurodoc to join. In some cases, it is even possible for others to join these working groups.
If you wish to be added to the new email lists for any working groups, please sign up through this google form.