Shaping a Trustworthy and Accessible future in Science | UM Open Science Festival

The Maastricht University Open Science Festival

On May 25, 2023, Maastricht University hosted an event that brought together researchers, students, university representatives, and the public to explore the transformative potential of Open Science. The Open Science Festival – taking place at UM’s School of Business and Economics in Maastricht  – was a full success. The festival was completely booked and many fascinating sessions showcased the importance of transparency, collaboration, and accessibility in scientific research. Organized by the Open Science Community Maastricht (OSCM), the event featured a diverse range of activities, including panel discussions, parallel sessions and workshops, and an inspiring keynote lecture. These sessions delved into topics that play a central role in Maastricht University's new Open Science policy (e.g., FAIR data, pre-registration), creating a platform for robust and critical conversations and knowledge sharing.

Throughout the day, participants were actively engaged in exploring the principles and practices of Open Science in sessions like third-party funding and Open Science or Open Science and AI. The festival provided participants with ample opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the field, exchange ideas, and collaborate with like-minded individuals who share a passion for advancing scientific research.

SBE Researchers Push Open Science

SBE researchers Roman Briker (Open Science Ambassador SBE) and Charlotte Kroll (Open Science Messenger SBE) were actively involved in the festival and organized a session on study pre-registration. Pre-registration involves openly specifying study designs, sample sizes, hypotheses, and planned analyses before data collection begins. During their well-attended mini-workshop, they provided hands-on advice and practical illustrations on the why, how, and where scientists should pre-register their studies and showcased how researchers across different faculties and methodologies can enhance the openness, robustness, and trustworthiness of their work.

The festival was concluded by an inspiring keynote speech by Prof. Dr Cyrus Mody (Chair in the History of Science, Technology, and Innovation at FaSoS) on prominent historical figures that may have worked in ways contradicting current approaches to open science; sparking a discussion on the historical developments of and viewpoints toward open science. In sum, the festival was a testament to the growing importance of Open Science at UM and the scientific community in general. Attendees left the event inspired and equipped with valuable insights into the future of robust, trustworthy, and accessible scientific research.

Open Science @ UM

Universities and research institutes worldwide are working on the realisation of "Open Science; Maastricht University (UM) is one of them. UM endorses the principles of Open Science, offering its academics support to put these principles into practice and make science "as open as possible, as closed as necessary". 

To advance Open Science, UM has its own Open Science Community.

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Images by Photostique