Category: OSC the Netherlands

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OSC-NL National Open Science Week from 23 to 27 September 2024

To celebrate and recognize the crucial role of Open Science in the advancement of science, the Network of Open Science Communities in the Netherlands (OSC-NL) organises its first OSC-NL National Open Science Week from 23 to 27 September 2024.

Although Open Science contributes to more transparent and inclusive research, its practical implementation is often challenging.

This Open Science Week aims to address these challenges by raising awareness of the various support services and structures that exist, such as local and thematic Digital Competency Centers, Open Science Programmes, Open Science Communities (OSCs) etc. Designed to facilitate the application of Open Science principles, these resources provide researchers and research supporters with the tools and funding necessary to adopt more open and collaborative research practices.  Read more

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OSC-NL Knowledge Exchange Day – July 5th

On 5 July, 2024 OSC-NL hosted its second Knowledge Exchange Day – what a day it was! Representatives from eight Open Science Communities traveled from all corners of the Netherlands to join the event.

The morning started with an engaging Faces of Open Science workshop, led by Susanna Bloem and Marc van Mil. Everyone tapped into their creativity as we created puppets and told animated stories on different persona in open science. We discussed their approaches to open science practices and where their focus lay (on collective or individual efforts, inside or outside of institutions). We even tackled some controversial statements from the perspectives of these persona. It was eye-opening and a potential tool to bring back to local communities to spark discussions on diverse perspectives and motivations in open science.

After lunch, we broke into groups to discuss plans for the OSC-NL Open Science Week, funding opportunities, and workflows for knowledge exchange. 

A few developments to take note of:

  • At the Open Science Retreat in March this year, a new narrative for sustainable open access was discussed. This led to the creation of a Call to Commitment, which anyone interested in the future of Open Access in the Netherlands can endorse. More information will follow.
  • The OSCNL executive team will work on launching a new cohort for the incubator program for new communities as well as a toolkit for managers

On the whole, the day was a great opportunity to see where local communities stand and share approaches. The workshop and discussions were a good reminder that everything we do in the open science communities is a collective effort. We look forward to working together again soon—perhaps at OSF24, if not sooner.

For now, enjoy the summer, and let’s keep the momentum going!

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Impulse for national network organisation Open Science Communities-NL

The Open Science Communities-NL (OSC-NL) network will receive a grant of 400,000 euros for a period of four years. This was decided by the Open Science NL steering committee on 17 May.

OSC-NL will use this to work on knowledge exchange, community management and sustainability of our bottom-up network. Professionalisation and expansion are also on the programme.

OSC-NL’s grant application outlines their plans for the next four years. The application is openly available here. The plans are divided into four work packages, each led by one of the members of the Executive Team.

  • Networking
  • Knowledge management
  • Increase visibility and findability of local Open Science Communities and open science expertise
  • Organisational embedding and perpetuation of OSC-NL after the project period

SURF will facilitate the Open Science communities as a partner in open science, to realise the ambitions in the exchange of knowledge, community management and embedding the Open Science Communities in a sustainable way.

For more information, see the formal announcement of OpenScienceNL.

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OSC-NL Knowledge exchange day on February 2nd, 2024

On February 2nd, 2024, OSC-NL hosted a knowledge exchange day to kick off the year. Due to the growing awareness that the communities are crucial in the transition to OS, we now also had funding to organise this day and other network events. Representatives from seven Open Science Communities attended the event to connect, socialise, and formulate a strategic plan to engage their respective local communities. A strategic approach to engagement has become especially important now that the generous NWO impulse fund for each of the local communities has started to flow, giving us the opportunity to grow and professionalise like never before. However, the central question on this day of knowledge sharing remained: How exactly can we achieve these goals?

To professionalise OSC-NL and the work of local community managers, we focused on three central points in our discussions:

  1. Professionalisation of local community managers. OSC-NL offers a limited number of spots for community engagement training, which will be available to community managers from OSCs across the Netherlands in autumn. Furthermore, broader workshops based on the OSC Incubator Program will be offered at the individual locations.
  2. Professionalisation of the OSC-NL core team. We shared ideas on the role of the OSC-NL core team within the network of OSCs in the Netherlands. This involved determining concrete tasks the core team should undertake, identifying the most pressing issues within the network the core team can address, and drafting strategies to effectively support individual communities to ensure their success.
  3. Professionalisation of the brand of OSC-NL and the OSC-NL website. OSC-NL is currently undergoing a rebranding process. The goal of this rebranding is to ensure inclusivity for all its members and to communicate more effectively our goals, strategies, and events. Stay tuned for updates on this initiative!

In addition to the professionalisation of OSC-NL, we also discussed current challenges considered important for individual OSCs. These were (1) education on open science (i.e., how can we bridge the gap between OSCs and educators and engage students in our communities?), (2) the engagement of local stakeholders (i.e., how can we reach university executive boards, to collaborate on long-term strategies for open science within universities?), and (3) the cultivation of a vibrant and active interdisciplinary community (i.e., which events facilitate engagement and the formation of workgroups?).

The meeting served as a brainstorming session to identify future tasks, but we only began to address a fraction of the questions at hand. However, it did establish a starting point for future work sprints on these topics, for instance, at the approaching 5-day Open Science Retreat in Schoorl in March.

Looking back at the past five years, we are very proud of what we achieved with OSC-NL: OSCs active in all 12 university cities with over 2000 members, ready to put Open Science to practise. With the financial impuls for OSC-NL, we are ready to take OSC-NL to the next level!  

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OSC-NL and NLRN team-up to collaborate on Open and Reproducible Science in the Netherlands

On November 27th, the Dutch Reproducibility Network was launched (NLRN). NLRN is a national network with the goal to increase the quality and efficiency of research in the Netherlands by coordinating, supporting and strengthening initiatives on reproducibility and transparency in all scholarly disciplines.

We congratulate our colleagues from NLRN with this milestone!

OSC-NL and NLRN share many goals, as Open Science and Reproducibility are topics that go hand-in-hand. It is therefore natural for OSC-NL and NLRN to collaborate. In fact, many members of OSC-NL are already active in NLRN, either in the NLRN steering committee or advisory board. At the NLRN Launch Event, possibilities for future collaborations were explore, for example on joint efforts to stimulate and facilitate ReproHacks.

With the addition of NLRN to the Dutch academic landscape, it is also relevant to indicate how and where OSC-NL and NLRN differ in their strategies and roles, and how they complement one another. To this extent, OSC-NL and NLRN have published a collective statement that explains where these initiatives overlap, and what sets them apart.

In short, OSC-NL is a national community of researchers and research supporters who make their OS practices visible and accessible to their peers, and provides input to policy, infrastructure and services to both local and national stakeholders. NLRN, on the other hand, is a network that brings togethers institutes, local initiatives and other stakeholders to increase the reproducibility of science, focussing on stakeholders alignment and agenda-setting.

Making the overlap and differences explicit is not only relevant for the Netherlands, but also for other countries where OSCs and RNs co-exist – which happens ever more often, as the number of OSC and RNs continues to rise across the globe.

With OSC and RNs teaming-up, you can expect many new events and initiatives to stimulate Open and Reproducible Science!

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Apply now for the Open Science Retreat / 25 – 29 March 2024 / Schoorl, the Netherlands

We are thrilled to invite you to the 2nd edition of the Open Science Retreat, from the 25th to the 29th of March, 2024 in Schoorl, the Netherlands. After a successful first German edition, organised by Heidi Seibold, this year the Netherlands Open Science Communities (OSC-NL) are in the lead. Join us for a week in which researchers from various disciplines come together to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices related to open science in the serene surroundings of dunes, a fairytale forest and the sea, the perfect backdrop for teamwork,  one-on-one talks, creativity and rejuvenation.

How to participate?

To join the Open Science Retreat, you can apply here. If you apply before December 1st, we will get back to you before the end of the year to let you know if your application is accepted. We welcome researchers at all stages of their careers. No prior experience with open science is required—just an eagerness to learn, share, and contribute.

Due to support via the NWO Open Science Fund, we have been able to keep costs relatively low for all. There is also a stipend fund to lower participation costs to 200,- for those who have difficulties to get reimbursement via their institution, mainly aimed at Early Career Researchers.

Why should you attend?

• Learn from peers who will share their insights and experiences in open science and build valuable collaborations. Be prepared to be inspired and challenged!

• Participate in a hands-on unconference style team in the mornings to develop practical skills in open science methodologies.

• Engage in thought-provoking discussions around the challenges and opportunities in implementing open science practices. Your voice matters!

• Benefit from coaching and join our mentoring scheme.

Programme and location

Please visit the website for details on the programme and the location of the retreat. Here you can also find a recap of the first Open Science Retreat in Kochel, Germany.

We hope to see you all there!

The Open Science Retreat Team

www.openscienceretreat.eu

team@openscienceretreat.eu

Mastodon: @OSR24NL@mastodon.social

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INOSC at the annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science (APS)

We were happy to have been given the opportunity to represent the international network of open science communities at the 2023 annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) in Washington D.C. Alexandra Sarafoglou (coordinator of OSCA) was invited to speak about the importance of grassroot communities in the symposium titled “Open Science 2.0: Moving Beyond Statistical Reforms to Improve Psychological Science”.

Alexandra highlighted the main challenge in adopting open science practices: engaging the academic community across disciplines and beyond the open science bubble. Researchers are at the center of the transition to open science, and it is the academic community that ultimately sets the norms and standards in the field. Open science communities can address these challenges by promoting open science practices among researchers, making them visible and accessible. They also advocate for the research community’s needs and can articulate them to policy makers at both local and national levels, as seen in the Netherlands. Drawing from these experiences, Alexandra advocated the establishment of open science communities in more institutions.

The symposium, chaired and organized by Eiko Fried, and emphasized not only the significance of grassroot initiatives but also highlighted the need to prioritizing diversity (speaker: Sakshi Ghai), education (speaker: Flavio Azevedo), and theory formation (speaker: Donald Robinaugh) when moving toward cumulative, global, and truly open psychological science. The symposium slides are openly available and can be accessed on: https://osf.io/u7wba/


We are truly inspired by the amazing work from our fellow speakers and the great open science initiatives that were represented at the conference. In particular, we would like to shout out the great work done by team members of the FORRT project which aims to advance open science through pedagogical reform and meta-scientific research (Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training; https://forrt.org) and by team members of the CREP project which provides training, support, and professional growth opportunities for students and instructors completing replication projects (Collaborative Education and Replication Project; https://www.crep-psych.org).

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OSC-NL at the Dutch EOSC Tripartite Event

Eduarda Centeno (OSC Amsterdam), representing OSC-NL, attended the first national Tripartite event in the Netherlands on April 11th, which focused on the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and how to connect stakeholders to the infrastructure being created in the context of Open Science in Europe. The event was hosted by SURF, OCW, and EZK ministries and brought together around 50 attendees, including representatives from researchers, Open Science programs, Digital Competence Centers, funding organizations, and delegates from national governments, the European Commission, the EOSC steering board, and the EOSC association.

During the first panel, Eduarda discussed the importance of Local and Thematic Digital Competence Centers and their challenges in the Dutch landscape. Eduarda shared her experience as a researcher trying to implement Open Science practices at the VUmc in Amsterdam and the challenges she faced in finding relevant resources and training. She highlighted the gap between top-down policies, infrastructure/training, and day-to-day implementation by researchers, who often do not understand how to change their practices according to the new directives nor have the time to do so. She explained how her strategy was to become a member of the OSCA board and try to be closer to the Open Science community around her. The OSCA gave her access to relevant information, training, and networking opportunities throughout the Netherlands, which helped her immensely to streamline her search towards adequate solutions.

Eduarda stressed the need for policymakers to recognize OSCs as critical allies in bridging the gap between top-down decisions and the bottom-up reality of researchers and educators. She argued that it is crucial to fund these communities sustainably rather than relying on volunteer efforts from community board managers. By investing in OSCs, policymakers could establish a mutually beneficial relationship with stakeholders, ultimately improving the effectiveness of Open Science infrastructure. Eduarda emphasized the potential of OSCs to help bridge the gap between higher-up projects and policies with the reality of researchers and educators, ultimately merging the needs of the different stakeholders.

In conclusion, on behalf of the OSC-NL, Eduarda’s point of view was that Open Science infrastructure and training are crucial for modern scientific research. However, it must reach the target audience to realize its potential. OSCs are vital in connecting researchers and educators to the infrastructure tailored to their needs. Funding these communities would be a great step towards merging the needs of the different stakeholders, and policymakers must engage with OSCs to ensure policies are effectively communicated and implemented.

More on the event here: National Tripartite Event Netherlands | EOSC Association

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OSC-NL at the LCRDM Networking Day

On November 1st the LCRDM networking day took place in Utrecht where we as OSC-NL also participated. The networking event was mainly focused on research data management but also had an event that was specifically aimed at communities in the Netherlands. During the “Meet the Communities” event we met many familiar faces – for example DANS Data Stations were represented, SURF and 4TU.ResearchData who organise the Dutch Data Prize. 

We were also particularly happy to meet initiatives that emerged from the bottom up and that we ourselves were not yet aware of, such as, Young Science in Transition (https://scienceintransition.nl) in which early career researchers at the Utrecht UMC engage in topics of recognition and rewards and open science or the national postdoc network (https://www.postdocnl.com). In this sense, this meeting was particularly successful as we found great new connections.