The Future is Open: Launching the Open Science Community of Victoria (OSCV)

Logo for Open Science Community Victoria (OSCV) with a teal and blue peacock feather on the left

as published on Jun 18, 2025 on the Scholarly Communications @ UVic blog

In today’s digital age, a significant amount of research data remains inaccessible to the public. This creates a major hurdle, as data is the engine of discovery and innovation. To tackle this challenge, Open Science has emerged as a vital research reform movement. Its core principle is simple: knowledge and understanding generated by researchers should be treated as public goods, freely available for the benefit of all society. This marks a significant departure from traditional academic practices that often restrict access to research and promote inequitable systems.

It’s a common misconception that “Open Science” applies only to the natural sciences. In reality, it embraces all academic disciplines. The movement gained traction in Europe, and in many European languages the word for “science” more closely translates to “scholarship.” This nuance is why, particularly in North America, “Open Science” and “Open Scholarship” can be used interchangeably.

The Open Science Community of Victoria (OSCV) is a new, collaborative initiative from the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University. This cross-institutional, multidisciplinary community is dedicated to promoting open research practices with the goal of driving cultural and institutional change. OSCV is also proud to join the International Network of Open Science & Scholarship Communities, a collaborative network connecting and supporting over 50 local communities across 27 countries worldwide.

OSCV aims to foster cultural change by raising awareness about the importance and advantages of open science, empowering individuals to collaborate on solutions, and strengthening existing open approaches. OSCV welcomes everyone, regardless of their expertise level – from faculty and students at UVic and RRU to postdocs, staff, and broader community members. The community organizes a variety of events, including lectures, workshops, panels, and “show-and-tell” sessions that address current topics in open science.

We invite you to join OSCV to contribute to a more open and collaborative research environment. To become a member and receive our mailing list updates, please complete the Join the Open Scholarship Community Victoria form. We look forward to connecting with you and building a more open and equitable future!

Declaração da Comunidade [quem somos e no que acreditamos?]

A Comunidade de Ciência Aberta de Pelotas é um grupo colaborativo dedicado a engajar e apoiar a adoção dos princípios e práticas de Ciência Aberta na pesquisa. Nosso objetivo é promover ciência aberta, facilitando a comunicação 📢 e a colaboração 🤝 entre instituições, disciplinas e contextos comprometidos em tornar o conhecimento científico acessível 🌍 e utilizável 📖.

📚 Como fazemos isso?

Através de workshops, seminários e projetos colaborativos 🎓💡, buscamos inspirar e capacitar indivíduos – pesquisadores, estudantes e profissionais de qualquer área – para que contribuam e se beneficiem da Ciência Aberta. Nossa comunidade está aberta a qualquer pessoa interessada em promover a Ciência Aberta, independentemente de sua formação ou nível de experiência.

🔎 Por que isso é importante?

Ao promover essas conexões, queremos sensibilizar 💡, simplificar a implementação da Ciência Aberta 🔄 e apoiar a transferência de conhecimento 🌍. Nossa missão é derrubar barreiras tradicionais 🚧 na pesquisa científica, promovendo transparência 👀, reprodutibilidade 🔄 e aprendizado compartilhado 📖.

✅ Isso significa:

📂 Acesso aberto a dados, métodos e descobertas.

🔓 Recursos científicos disponíveis para todos que os procuram.

🌎 Democratização da pesquisa com ferramentas de acesso aberto.

🤝 Contribuições de uma rede global de colaboradores.

🎯 Além da academia!

Também priorizamos educação e divulgação, levando as práticas de Ciência Aberta para além do ambiente acadêmico 📢. Nosso objetivo é envolver toda a sociedade, garantindo que a pesquisa seja conduzida com integridade ✅ e seus benefícios sejam amplamente compartilhados 🔗.

🚀 Junte-se a nós e faça parte dessa transformação! 🌍💡

How to build an open research community: Inter-institutional perspectives

Wednesday 29th November 2023, 12-1pm

While centrally-led and policy-driven initiatives can be effective in supporting uptake of open research practices, the development of peer-led communities is nevertheless crucial in establishing an inclusive, sustainable and meaningful open research culture. But how do we best support the development of grass-roots open research communities? In this session, researchers and research-related colleagues from a range of institutions share their experiences of the key considerations and strategies that inform open research community-building.

From the University of Sheffield, Neil Shephard will discuss the Open Scholarship Community Sheffield, a new initiative which is part of the International Network of Open Science and Scholarship Communities (INOSC) and aims to create space for peer-to-peer support outside of the formal structure of top-down policies. Lufti Bin Othman and Kim Clugston will explore the Data Champions Scheme and other initiatives from the University of Cambridge, and Hardy Schwamm will discuss community-building strategies and activities at the University of Galway. These talks will be followed by an open discussion of the possibilities and challenges of community-building around open research.

Lufti Bin Othman and Kim Clugston: In our short presentation, we will introduce the Data Champions Programme at the University of Cambridge, a valuable community through which Research Data Management is advocated for and supported at the University. We will describe the community in terms of its demographics and the areas of subject specialisations that the Data Champions represent, and we will also give a little insight into how the Research Data Team maintain this programme. We will also give a short introduction to the establishment of an Open Research Community on behalf of the newly appointed Open Research Community Manager.

Hardy Schwamm: In 2019, Open Scholarship enthusiasts in the West of Ireland founded the Open Scholarship Community Galway (OSCG), based on the Dutch Open Science Community model. Countless Open Scholarship Cafés and three Open Scholarship Weeks later, we relaunched OSCG this summer. Open Scholarship Librarian Hardy Schwamm will outline why an OSC is a good idea and what lessons we have learned in the last few years.

Neil Shephard: How I started an Open Scholarship Community by mistake – Neil will talk about his experience of undertaking the INOSC Incubator Programme and how it guided the structure and launch of OSC Sheffield.

Book your place here

Skip to content