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Open Science and OpenX Initiative

On this page we present our activities to promote and deepen Open Science in the Berlin University Alliance.

Open Science at the Berlin University Alliance

The Reason for an Open Science Mission Statement for the Alliance
Our Understanding of Open Science
The Consultation Process within the Alliance
Newsletter for the Berlin University Alliance's OpenX-Initiative
Review of empirical research on Open Science
Links to Open Science in the Berlin Research Area

Open Science Ambassadors

To find discipline-specific and accessible solutions to be implemented into everyday research routines, we are currently looking for Open Science Ambassadors. From August 1st, 2024, every faculty of the Berlin University Alliance shall have at least one ambassador to help their colleagues with the implementation via networking and training events.

If you are a researcher with first experiences in Open Science practices and want to participate in the implementation of Open Science in your community for one year, get involved!

The Reason for an Open Science Mission Statement for the Alliance

One of the central goals of the Berlin University Alliance is to promote and intensify open science practices. This is how the excellence alliance responds to current developments in science policy and scientific practice. These include, for example, the establishment of the European Open Science Cloud, international initiatives such as the DORA Declaration, and the German government's focus on the digitalization of science and innovation. A mandate for the Berlin University Alliance and its partner institutions to act and shape the future of the alliance also results from the amendment of the Berlin Higher Education Act, in which the promotion of open science is now also firmly anchored.

In order to achieve this goal, a mission statement for open science is under development at the BUA and is to be implemented as part of the OpenX initiative, which will provide guidance for the development and enhancement of measures and initiatives in the coming years. In the consultation process, the various existing Berlin initiatives are also to be given a forum in which to become further acquainted with each other and to establish networks.

Our Understanding of Open Science

Open Science is an umbrella term for various practices, which also vary by subject, and which represent demands of and on science for opening up. These include practices such as open access, open data, open review, open source and open hardware, open education, as well as citizen science and transdisciplinary research. These practices have three dimensions in common: inclusion and collaboration, accessibility and subsequent use, along with transparency and review of research results (cf. et al. Fecher, Leihmüller and Blümel 2018). Open science practices are relevant to the entire research process, ranging from the development of research ideas and the selection of methods to the subsequent use of research results within and outside academia.

The Consultation Process within the Alliance

With the goal of developing an OpenX strategy that is supported by a broad majority, as many stakeholders as possible will be involved in the process. Therefore, the development of the strategy is organized as a two-stage consultation process with experts and users, which started in the first half of 2022. This consultation process has resulted in a mission statement for Open Science at the Berlin University Alliance, which is currently being voted on in the Academic Senates of the universities and by the Faculty Council of the Charité.

As Center for Open and Reliable Research (CORe) we accompany the way to the implementation of the mission statement. For this purpose, we use our competences and funding opportunities in our four work areas: Networking and Exchange, Education and Training, Research and Monitoring. More information on the mission statement and the development process can be found at www.berlin-university-alliance.de/en/commitments/research-quality/open-science/Leitbild-fuer-OS/index.html

Newsletter for the Berlin University Alliance's OpenX-Initiative

The Center for Open and Responsible Research informs all interested parties in a newsletter. Topics are the progress of strategy development and implementation, projects on Open Science and funding opportunities. You can subscribe to the newsletter here: https://lists.fu-berlin.de/listinfo/BUA-OpenX-Initiative/

Review of empirical research on Open Science

In order to be able to adequately shape framework conditions for Open Science, a look at the empirical research on Open Science is helpful. For a systematic overview of research on Open Science, Stefan Skupien initiated a Living Systematic Review of the literature in 2021, which is maintained together with experts from Germany and Austria and contains the literature since 2000. The open source data is intended to support research, science management and science policy. More information can be found here: www.berlin-university-alliance.de/en/commitments/research-quality/forschung/ongoing/mapOSR/index.html

Links to Open Science in the Berlin Research Area

Services, Institutions and Initiatives

Open Science projects with funding from the Berlin University Alliance

Knowledge about Open Science practices

Examples of institutional open science strategies (domestic and international)