Responsible openness: What are the risks of Open Science and how should they be dealt with in the Berlin Research Area?

In this session, Dr. Stefan Skupien, scientific coordinator for Open Science in the Objective 3 - Advancing Research Quality and Value of the Berlin University Alliance, discusses the BUA Open Science mission statement, which has been developed since 2022, and addresses opportunities but also risks of its implementation.

Dr. Jens Ambrasat, research associate at the Robert Merton Center for Science Studies and project leader of the Berlin Science Survey (BSS), will start the session with a short presentation on risk perception in the field of Open Science among Berlin researchers including empirical findings from the BSS.

The colloquium is aimed at scientists of all status groups and interested parties from all scientific and non-scientific fields. The session will be held in German.

The colloquium is organized within the framework of Objective 3: Advancing Research Quality and Value. It always takes place on the last Wednesday of the month from 14:00 to 15:30.

To participate in the colloquium, we ask for a short informal registration via email. The meeting link will then be sent to you one week before the meeting.

Since 2022, members of the BUA partners have been developing a joint strategic positioning on openness in science. In the course of the consultation process, risks in the design of Open Science were also discussed. For example, in the Berlin Science Survey of 2022, between 23.2% and 58.5% of researchers in the Berlin area state that they see risks of increased commercialization, idea theft, and competition. However, these attitudes are distributed differently across disciplines and status groups. Questions about property rights and scientific freedom, data protection and quality assurance, the need for long-term provision of infrastructures, and adjustments to the evaluation of research careers are also repeatedly discussed. Increasingly, questions of geopolitical digital sovereignty are also coming to the fore.

The mission statement for Open Science at the Berlin University Alliance takes these objections seriously and is committed to a responsible approach in shaping the framework of Open Science. How exactly can this look like in the everyday life of research, teaching, knowledge transfer and administration? We would like to address these questions together with you in the colloquium on May 31st and thereby sensitize to the potential risks of open research.

Contact:

Nele Hofmann

Scientific Coordinator Research Quality

Objective 3 - Advancing Research Quality and Value

nele.hofmann@berlin-university-alliance.de