Board members of OSC the Netherlands

OSC-NL Executive Team

The OSC-NL Board is supported by the OSC-NL Executive Team.

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The OSC-NL Governance

OSC-NL is a thriving and growing bottom up, community-led, social infrastructure of 13 local communities, one in each university city in the Netherlands. They are bringing together over 2000 members of the academic community.

Started by local researchers in Utrecht, it is now a place where researchers and scholars, educators, support staff, students, and citizens are welcome to learn from each other how to put Open Science to practice. OSCs are active at all Dutch Universities and ever more often at Universities of Applied Science.

Over the years, local OSCs have organised a plethora of events and activities to make Open Science practises more visible and accessible at their institutions, ranging from workshops, symposia, barcamps, blogs, awards and newsletters to social media campaigns.

Moreover, the OSC-NL network provides input to policy and services on the local and national level, shaping the transition to Open Science according to the wishes and needs as experienced by the community. OSC-NL is also the Dutch national chapter of the International Network of Open Science Communities (INOSC).

Together, as the OSC-NL network, the Dutch OSCs have a shared mission and vision, code of conduct, on-boarding tutorials and soon a Community Management Toolkit. OSC-NL has been a Dutch foundation since December 2022. It has received funding from NWO: all local OSCs that existed in 2022 receive 100.000 in total from 2023-2025. From 2024-2027 OSC-NL also receives 100.000 funding a year for national knowledge exchange and network support, which, next to in kind contributions from SURF, DANS and Imming Impact ensures that there is an Executive Team (ET) in place of 6 pp (together a total of 0,4 FTE, hosted by SURF). With the establishment of this ET, there is capacity for professionalising the network and expanding the network and its activities. This is done, amongst other things, by setting up an open, online toolkit so local communities can exchange knowledge and use existing templates.

The OSC-NL Board

Goals of the OSC-NL Board

The OSC-NL network of open science communities is governed by the OSC-NL board, consisting of six representatives of local OSCs, often local OSC managers.

The OSC-NL Board is responsible for all central decisions of OSC-NL. The three following aims were set in 2024:

1. Foster local OSCs through knowledge exchange and tailored support
To stimulate community engagement and outreach of local OSCs, we exchange knowledge amongst each other. For instance, we share our success stories and failures, good practices and materials. 

2. Provide input to policy, infrastructure and services on a national level
OSC-NL vocalizes the opportunities and needs of those who put OS to practice. By interacting with national stakeholders, we provide input to policy, infrastructure and services. 

3. Contribute to a global culture change towards OS
OS is a global endeavor. Which is why OSC-NL has a leading role in the International Network of Open Science and Scholarship Communities (INOSC), the international counterpart of OSC-NL.

OSC-NL Board Members

The minimal effort requested from Board Members is to attend the periodic Board Meetings, an annual meeting with the Advisory Committee and the yearly Assembly of the Community Members online, and to prepare for those meetings by reading the topics on the Agenda and its related documentation. Additional requests can be to participate in panels, to present OSC-NL at events or to give input on policy as an OSC-NL representative. Estimated effort is 56 hours/7 days a year.

Board Members:

Meet at least five times a year (online or f2f)
Their participation on the board is voluntary and unpaid
They all represent a Local Open Science Community
They stay on the Board for a two year term, and can get re-elected

Chair of the OSC-NL Board

The Chair’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

overseeing regularly scheduled Board meetings, an annual meeting with the Advisory Board and calling special meetings as necessary;
overseeing the preparation of the agenda of Board meetings;
working in partnership with local OSC managers and the Executive Team to make sure resolutions are carried out and issues addressed by the Board as needed;
coordinating the annual evaluation and reporting of OSC-NL.

A Vice-Chair will also be appointed; their role is to fill in for the Chair if the Chair is not available.

OSC-NL Board Periodic Meetings

The Board shall meet regularly and at least five times a year or as often as the Chair or other Board members deem appropriate. Board meetings can only take place when at least half of the Board members are present. A Board member may be represented at the meeting by a fellow Board member authorised by them in writing. A Board member may represent a maximum of one co-Board member at a meeting. The representing Board member should make this clear at the beginning of the meeting.

The Chair oversees the preparation of the agenda of Board meetings. Both members of the Board and the Executive Team can suggest agenda points. For all agenda points it is noted whether a decision is needed. If a decision is needed, a clear proposal should be presented to make it easier to discuss and reach a decision based on consent decision making. The role of secretary will be taken up by someone from the ET.

Board decisions are taken by means of consent decision making. Board decisions may be taken outside a meeting, provided that all Board members are given the opportunity to voice their opinion and raise objections to a proposal. In the event of an indecisive Board, the Chair can cast the decisive vote.

OSC-NL Executive Team (ET)

The OSC-NL ET contributes to the realisation of the three aims of the network. It supports the OSC-NL Board on a day-to-day basis and operates under its governance. The work of the Executive Team is laid out in this work programme (WP) which gives an indication of the workload. Any deviations to this WP should be approved by the Board. Spendings up until the amount of 1.500,- within the budget of the WP can be approved by the ET, higher spendings should be approved by the Board. The ET will keep track of their efforts and spendings and will prepare the yearly WP reporting to NWO for the Board.

The ET now consists of 6 members which have been appointed after approval from the Board. Additional members can be added to the team, e.g. on an in-kind basis from an institution, after approval of the Board. If members of the Executive Team leave the team, the Board can advise SURF how to fill that position.

OSC Representatives

Each OSC is represented within the International Network of Open Science and Scholarship Communities (INOSC) by one individual, the OSC Representative (see below under ‘Relationship with the INOSC for more information about this role in INOSC). In OSC-NL a representative has the role of point of contact for the local OSCs, and they are invited to attend the Assembly of the Representatives and Members.

Assembly of Members

All members (including the representatives) of Dutch local open science committees are invited for the Assembly of Representatives and Members. This assembly represents the voice of the communities at large. The Assembly meets once a year (online) and members can have their say on specific elements of the overall strategy. As mentioned above, the Assembly is also used to introduce candidates for the Board before a new Board is elected. Participation of the assembly is voluntary and unpaid.

Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee provides expert insight, knowledge and recommendations relating to the strategic direction of OSC-NL. Their participation is voluntary and unpaid. They meet at least once a year.

The minimal effort requested from Advisory Committee Members is to attend the yearly Advisory Committee Meeting and to prepare for this meeting by reading the topics on the Agenda and its related documentation. Estimated effort is 4 hours per meeting.

Appointments to the Advisory Committee will take place every three years. A Call for Nominations for vacancies shall be sent to all coordinators of OSC’s in the INOSC. The OSC-NL Board will decide who to invite for the Advisory Committee.

Appointments to the OSC-NL Board

Appointments to the Board will take place in a cascading manner in order to safeguard consistency: every year there will be appointments for three Board positions.

A Call for Nominations for vacancies on the OSC-NL Board shall be sent to all coordinators of local OSCs in the Netherlands three months before the voting takes place. Nominations can be done via an online form.

Nominated candidates must represent one of the current local OSCs, but not specifically the OSCs that were represented by Board members whose term has been fulfilled. The candidates shall present themselves at the Assembly of the Community Members. All OSC members who have registered for the Assembly are entitled to vote for the nominees. In the evaluation of the voting all local OSCs are equally weighted.

If after elections the Board would comprise of more than one member affiliated with the same OSC, and there were other eligible candidates, a candidate with fewer votes, affiliated with an OSC not already presented in the Board, should be given precedence.

If the number of candidates in a Board election is equal to (or lower than) the number of positions available, there will be no elections and all candidates will automatically become a member of the Board, except if there are more nominees from 1 OSC. If there are not enough candidates in a Board election, the Board may continue to operate with at least three members. If there are less than three members, new elections will be held for additional members.

If a Board member leaves the Board before the end of their term, the remaining Board members decide whether to: a. hold an ad hoc election for the vacant position. This position will then be filled by a) a newly elected Board member for the remainder of the term of the Board member who stepped down; or b) continue and distribute the tasks of the Board member who stepped down over the remaining Board members.

Appointment of the Chair of the OSC-NL Board

Any member of the Board may stand for appointment as Chair after the 2-year term of the Chair is fulfilled. The Board and 1 representative of the Executive Team will together decide who should fulfil the position of the chair by means of consent decision making. If the Board member who is appointed as Chair is in their second term, their term can be extended. With an appointment of the new Chair, it will also be evaluated if new Board members are needed in the statutes of foundation (see paragraph about the Foundation below).

Governance of Local OSCs

The OSC-NL Board and ET are not responsible for the governance of local OSCs. The local OSCs are free to organize their governance how they see fit. T

he OSC-NL toolkit does, however, support local OSCs through information and guidance around governance and sustainability.

Relationship with INOSC

The governance of the INOSC and relationship between the INOSC and OSCs are specified in the By-laws of the International Network of Open Science and Scholarship Communities (INOSC) Foundation. As outlined there, each OSC is represented within INOSC by one individual, the OSC Representative. Each OSC can determine how this representative is selected and this concerns a voluntary position. In voting, each Representative, and thus each OSC, has one vote. As such, all Dutch OSCs are part of INOSC via their OSC Representatives – OSC-NL does not have a formal role in INOSC.

The Foundation Open Science Communities

OSC-NL, as part of INOSC, is part of the Stichting Open Science Communities. The foundation was established to ensure the network has a legal status. At the moment, there is no money flowing through this foundation.

The official purpose of the Foundation is according to the statues:

1 to be a formal representation of the members of local Open Science Communities towards (inter) national stakeholders and all things related to that aim the broadest sense;

2. The Foundation seeks to achieve its objective by for instance

– supporting local Open Science Communities e.g. by stimulating knowledge exchange and facilitating training for coordinators;

– encouraging and supporting researchers abroad to start an Open Science Community locally.

3. The Foundation does not aim to make a profit.

At least three members of INOSC have to be listed as official board members in the statutes of the foundation.