On September 20th, 2023, The OSIRIS project, together with its partners the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), the Biogas Research Team (BRT) and the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) organised a 3 hours Open Science workshop titled “ Making research transparent and reproducible – Creating a paradigm shift in Open Science!“ at TROPENTAG – Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Research in Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development.
This year’s conference was organised at the Campus Mitte of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. The objective of the workshop was to empower young researchers and provide them with ways to identify incentives and embed reproducibility in the strategy and design of research projects and to understand the underlying drivers and effective interventions that increase evidence-based reproducibility at funding, publishing, university, and researcher-level trough an interactive peer-to-peer exchange.
Welcome and driving interest in Open Science
The workshop was implemented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hynek Roubík, founder and Group Leader of the Biogas Research Team (BRT) at CZU and the OSIRIS work package 6 (WP6) lead. The event started with a warm welcome to participants where Assoc. Prof. Roubík introduced himself and asked participants to do the same whilst stating what drove them to attend the workshop on Open Science. The driving interest ranged from curiosity about the topic, dealing with European projects where Open Science is obligatory, to wanting to know how Open Science can help the Global South.
Enabling the discussion – The realities of early career scientists
To put the topic into perspective and to open the space for discussion, Assoc. Prof. Roubík gave an interactive presentation where participants were encouraged to share thoughts and ideas or ask questions right in the moment, which made for a timely, dynamic and to-the-point exchange of knowledge and experiences. The presentation consisted of clearly defining Open Science and Reproducibility in Science, followed by covering the topic of “How Open Science is reshaping research and academia?” as the guiding question throughout the workshop.
Assoc. Prof. Roubík also introduced the OSIRIS project to the participants as an example of an initiative that aims to systematically gather knowledge on the underlying drivers, testing effective evidence-based solutions, identifying incentives for reproducibility by stakeholders (funders, institutions, researchers, policy officers, journals and publishers), and embedding reproducibility in research design. Participants were also invited to actively participate in the project activities if interested.
It’s brainstorming time!
The interactive presentation was followed by a brain-storing session where the participants were challenged to envision the ideal way of having Open Science in their daily practice. This resulted in a plethora of ideas and different visions of what each participant believes they or their institutions can do to incorporate Open Science in their daily activities. At the end of the workshop, the participants were encouraged to make a personal pledge to adopt Open Science practices into their research.
As stated by Assoc. Prof. Roubík – “These types of events that not only include the youth but also bring together researchers from diverse backgrounds and career stages are of utmost importance for the future of science as Open science is not just a philosophy, but a transformative movement that leads to the very essence of scientific practice. By embracing transparency and reproducibility, we help the foundations of knowledge, creating an environment where the veracity of research is not just an aspiration but a fundamental expectation. We want and need the collaborative spirit of open science so we can pave the way for the evolution of a robust, accountable, and truly progressive scientific world.”
Stay tuned for updates on other OSIRIS activities! Or visit our blogs and events section to discover what’s new and how you can get involved!
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