OSIRIS-EU is under way: a European project coordinated by the University of Salamanca that brings together 27 institutions from Europe, Asia and the Americas so that Open Science changes the way research is done and reaches society.
Ibercivis is one of the project partners and took part online in the kick-off meeting, held in Salamanca on 29 and 30 September.
OSIRIS-EU (Open Science inspiring Inclusive Research and Innovation towards Societal Impact in Europe) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchanges project under Horizon Europe, funded by the European Union with €1,087,170 and coordinated by the University of Salamanca. Over the next four years it will work to transform the way scientific knowledge is produced, shared and assessed.
The kick-off meeting took place at the Centro Internacional del Español in Salamanca. The University of Salamanca’s Vice-Rector for Research, José Miguel Mateos Roco, and Nicoletta Petre, Project Officer at the European Research Executive Agency (REA), welcomed representatives of the 27 institutions in the consortium. Over the two days, the partners agreed a shared roadmap and launched the first staff exchanges.
From Open Science to impact
OSIRIS-EU starts from one idea: opening up science is not just about making its results easier to access, but also about doing better science, more collaborative, transparent and connected with society. Opening up data, methods and results is only the beginning. Real impact also depends on reproducibility, responsible assessment, inclusion, public participation, ethics and trust in science.
That is why staff exchanges are at the heart of the project. Researchers, technical staff and other professionals will spend time at other institutions to share practices, compare ways of doing science and bring what they learn back to their own organisations. The aim is for these exchanges to build a lasting network of cooperation across institutions, disciplines and sectors that keeps working once the project ends.
A network of 27 institutions
The consortium includes universities, research centres, scientific organisations, international infrastructures and companies working in technology, education and research assessment. Among them are the University of Edinburgh, KU Leuven, the University of Vienna, Yonsei University (South Korea), King’s College London, CERN, the Institut Pasteur, Fundación CARTIF, OAPEN, Arduino, Coursera, Altmetric and Clarivate. Ibercivis is part of this network as a partner. This variety makes it possible to connect research, technology, education, open access, research assessment, citizen science and innovation within a single network.
The role of Ibercivis
As a project partner, Ibercivis brings its experience in citizen science and participatory open science. We are part of the work package on societal engagement and citizen science, where we lead the task on citizen science pilots: we will connect researchers, policymakers and citizens so that inclusiveness, equality and co-creation reach the whole consortium.
In these pilots, members of the public will be able to co-create data, validate research results or help monitor the societal impact of the project. The whole process will be documented openly in the OSIRIS-EU Digital Hub.
You can follow the project on its website: osiriseu.com.
Adapted from the original news story by the University of Salamanca (in Spanish): ‘La USAL lidera una red internacional de instituciones para transformar la Ciencia Abierta en impacto social’.