How the European Universities Initiative Contributes to the Advancement of Open Science – The (Re:)ERUA Work Package on Open Science

Advancing Open Science and creating transnational alliances in higher education are two priorities which the European Commission pursues, among other things, within the European Universities Initiative (European Commission 2023a, 2023b). It is therefore unsurprising that one of the European Universities Initiative’s key principles concerns sustainability and dissemination via Open Science (Craciun et al. 2023). ERUA – the European Reform Universities Alliance – aligns well with this principle, as, according to ERUA, reform implies openness – for instance, by breaking barriers between academia and society and providing everyone with access to academic output (European Reform Universities Alliance 2023). These objectives are predominantly pursued by Re:ERUA, a research-related subprogram which advances ERUA’s research trajectory (“Re” = research). ERUA’s founding members are the New Bulgarian University (Sofia), Roskilde University (Denmark), the University of the Aegean (Greece), the University of Konstanz (Germany) and the University Paris 8 (France).

Within Re:ERUA, the work package “Open Science for Transparent Research and Public Engagement” advances Open Science through several deliverables dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of Open Science, promoting Open Science, building structures for cooperation, identifying needs as well as designing services and tools. The project’s multinational nature strongly motivates the work and is a decisive prerequisite for intercultural exchange and progress. The work package’s board consists of research data managers, researchers and other Open Science professionals from all five universities who work together on the deliverables, which allows for a variety of experiences, perspectives and practical examples.

All deliverables take a long-term perspective and contribute to reimagining Open Science for the future. In the beginning, we conducted a SWOT analysis to assess the status quo of Open Science at the member universities. Based on this study, we are working on a research data repository evaluation to see, among others, how repositories might be connected. To be able to give recommendations on how to improve researchers’ data management, we are currently conducting a qualitative study on research data management practices and needs. As a sustainable introduction to Open Science for current and future generations, we have been developing two self-study online Open Science courses (basic and advanced course). The course material of the basic course is publicly available on Zenodo and YouTube. To bring together people with an affinity for Open Science and to foster collaboration, we have been organizing monthly Open Science Meet-Ups to present and exchange views on diverse Open Science topics. To ensure that everyone benefits from this format, we have published our reflections in the open access journal LIBER Quarterly. Furthermore, we are establishing an ERUA Open Science Ambassador Program. The ambassadors shall, among other things, promote Open Science at their institution.

This poster gives an overview of our activities, with which we leverage international synergies and produce material and structures for current and future generations. The poster will inform target groups involved or interested in higher education alliances about examples of output generated in such a partnership and we will gladly share details about contents and methods at the conference.