On October 26th 2025 the National Open Science festival took place at the UMCG with hundreds of participants from knowledge institutes all over the Netherlands.
RESEARCH AS COMMON GOOD
Casper Albers, co-chair of the Programme Committee and Dean of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, explained that RUG is ahead of the trend towards Open Science. Some Faculties have already decided to phase out gold open access, refusing to pay large amounts of money to commercial publishers. Furthermore he mentioned that the RUG has decided to become independent of non-EU big tech companies in 2030. Other RUG goals for 2024-2026 are to fully embed Open Science in research and educational and maximum impact of open science research TheDean of UMCG, Wiero Niessen, argued that Open Science should be a global common good. Ana Persic, head of the open science programme at UNESC, explained why Open Science is important in the current context.
WHY OPEN SCIENCE?
– 90% of the science which is produced is not getting into the hands of decisionmakers who
would benefit from using this knowledge;
– Achieving SDGs and overcoming the global challenges requite an efficient, equitable,
transparent collaborative and inclusive science;
– We need to better connect science to societal needs and to bridge the knowledge and
technology gaps between and within countries’;
– Everyone has the right o freely share in scientific advancement and its benefits (art. 27) of
the universal declaration on human rights
We face a shifting global landscape with geopolitical tensions, rapid technological advances, with rising risks of mis- and disinformation, a decreasing trust in scientific institutions, a growing focus on national security risks and constraints on openness, solidarity and international scientific collaboration.
UNESCO
In this context there are persistent disparities: inequities in research capacity, funding and access to knowledge. However there are also successful developments and efforts in Open Science. In 2021 at the UNESCO general conference, 193 member states adopted the first international standard-setting instrument on Open Science in the form of a UNESCO Recommendation, which includes shared definitions, values and principles (diversity, inclusiveness, quality, integrity, collective benefits, equity and fairness). UNESCO also developed practical guidance such as an Open science Toolkit, Outlook, MOOC and catalogues with practices and resources.
OPEN SCIENCE AND SPATIAL SCIENCES
Our Faculty of Spatial Sciences is committed to the policies at the University of Groningen, a broad approach that not just promotes Open Access, but also stimulates Open Education, Public Engagement, community building, FAIR principles and communication. Like other faculties we have an OS ambassador and support FAIR principles via data management policy. (https://www.rug.nl/research/openscience/ug-open-science-program/). We financially support the RUG Open Access book fund. An example is the beautiful book Crossing Borders, Blending Perspectives: Trilateral Wadden Sea Explorations in which colleagues from Spatial Sciences Frans Sijtsma and Elen Trell participated (https://books.ugp.rug.nl/ugp/catalog/book/225)
POSITIONALITY AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
During the workshops at the festival very interesting workshops took place. An example is the
session on Positionality Statements. While PhDs increasingly reflect on their choices and
assumptions, a positionality statement in articles is still relatively rare. Such as statement opens up the research process, reflecting on how the identity of the researcher influences methodological decisions and choices and illuminates potential biases and hidden assumptions.
Another workshop showed opportunities for qualitative open research. How can you for example include Open science in research proposals/projects? A good example is the FSS project RECOMS (www.recoms.eu) in which FSS participated and which resulted in collaboration with non-academic partners, an open access toolkit and book on co-creative methods and an innovative MOOC on care-full scholarship. The MOOC has been integrated in the PhD training of the FSS Graduate School and is also interesting for other Graduate Schools.
Open Science is not just important for research but also for recruitment and promotion policies as part of the academic culture. The University of Leiden showed examples of narratives in science evaluation. An example is narrative based CVs for grants and career promotion decisions, including the use of videos. Via such narratives applicants can show expertise in collaborative approach, leadership and management skills and include more self-reflection than in traditional CVs.