In 2017, Utrecht University (UU) chose for a transition to Open Science. Open Science represents a cultural change in academia towards an open attitude and communication towards peers and society, open sharing of knowledge and results, open sharing of data and code. 

Open Science represents a paradigm shift towards recognising team science and a renewed form of recognition and rewards of individuals in academia; the UU puts emphasis on an open academic culture and less on individual competition. Fast-forward to 2022 we can see how the transition to Open Science is re-shaping our institute and its faculties from the ground up through an active Open Science Community Utrecht (OSCU) driven community and from the top down through the Open Science Program (UU-OSP), Faculty Open Science Teams (FOST), and the Open Science Platform among others. 

Open Science RoadShow

Looking forward, the focus in Utrecht will be at building a strong and open academic community to face the challenges of tomorrow’s society. Since 2018 OSCU has been organising events on Open Science topics: Open Science Coffees during COVID19 brought members and non-members together, workshops on a variety of topics (Open Science in the Global South, FAIR data and code at the UU, reproducible coding with WORCS), and of course the well-attended Open Science Symposia at the seven UU faculties. 

Now we turn the table around: the Open Science RoadShow at the UMC Utrecht will bring “Open Science to the People”. Instead of inviting people to come to one of the events, we will visit existing meeting-structures, for instance department, floor and work meetings, work-meetings, and leadship- and management meetings. We will organise interactive workshops, talks or discussions on a variety of topics, preferably chosen by the intended audience. 

This week marks the kick-off with three talks just before the Christmas Holidays:

• 01-12-2022 | 16:30-17:00 | live | Circulatory Health Floor Meeting (UMC Utrecht) Nico Poppelier ‘Steps towards Open Science and FAIR Data‘ 
• 15-12-2022 | 12:00-13:00 | live | Lunch ‘n Learn Session (Prinses Maxima Center) Sander W. van der Laan ‘An introduction to Open Science‘ 
• 22-12-2022 | 13:00-13:45 | digital | Julius Seminar (Julius Center) Rinze Benedictus & Sander W. van der Laan ‘TRIPLE & Career Profiles at the UMC Utrecht’

The Open Science RoadShow will continue in January until the 2023 Summer Holidays.

The Future is Open Science.