Enabling open science and societal engagement in research - EC report

A new report on enabling open science and societal engagement in universities and research organisations was published on 9 December. The report emerged from an event, held on 1 July 2021, which sought to provide answers on how the institutionalisation of open science could be enabled in universities. The event was attended by delegates from SwafS ‘Institutional Changes’ projects funded under Horizon 2020, and the first group of European University Alliances under the European Universities Initiative. The participants shared their experiences on how open science and societal engagement could be enabled to become the norm in research-performing organisations and universities, in particular across the European Research Area.

The five key recommendations are:

• Universities and other research performing organisations should make reforms to criteria, metrics and processes underpinning researchers’ recruitment and career progression in order to reward open science practices.
• The institutionalisation of open science in universities and other research-performing organisations should be seen as a long-term project for which leadership, co-ordination, resources and training need to be provided.
• The European Commission, national policy makers and research funders, universities, and other research performing organisations should continue to make reforms to indicators, measures and processes utilised by them in all evaluations to ensure these include assessment and evaluation of open science practices.
• The European Commission and national research funders should also continue to improve criteria, metrics and methods that underpin research proposal evaluation processes so that they recognise and value open science and societal engagement.
• University ranking organisations should undertake substantial reforms to their ranking systems to reward open science practices.

For more information: Opening science up to society (europa.eu)

Source: ERA Portal Austria