OPUS Key Exploitable Results

The Open and Universal Science (OPUS) Project

The OPUS project was funded under Horizon Europe to reform researcher assessment and incentivise and reward Open Science (OS) practices by researchers. The project ran from 01 September 2022 until 31 August 2025 and brought together research stakeholders, including research-performing organisations (RPOs), research-funding organisations (RFOs), experts on assessment and OS, researchers, and industry.

Key OPUS Activities

• Developed a Researcher Assessment Framework (RAF) which consists of a range of indicators (which can be deployed qualitatively and/or quantitatively) to recognise the many activities conducted by researchers in their assessment.
• Developed an Open Science Career Assessment Matrix (OSCAM2) which consists of a wide range of indicators focused on Open Science to recognise Open Science practices by researchers in their assessment.
• Developed interventions (on policy, resources, awareness, and training) to support the implementation of the RAF and OSCAM2 at RPOs and RFOs.
• Conducted pilots at three RPOs (University of Cyprus, University of Rijeka, and NOVA University Lisboa) and two RFOs (Research Council of Lithuania and Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding in Romania) to test the implementation of the RAF.

Key Aims of OPUS

Traditional research assessment systems have prioritised peer-reviewed
publications and publication metrics (such as number of publications,
citations, H-index, Journal Impact Factor) in researcher assessment and do
not incentivise and reward OS.

OPUS aimed to address this by:

• Reforming Assessment: Expanding the recognition of activities
  conducted by researchers beyond publications and publication metrics
• Recognising Open Science Practices: Incentivising and rewarding Open
  Science by recognising Open Science practices conducted by researchers