The new Open Science team at SciLifeLab is committed to developing practical approaches to effectively manage research outputs in a FAIR and open manner. To this end, the team has launched a new section on the Data Platform. In the Open Science section, you can learn more about their initiatives, access relevant resources, and stay up to date about the latest developments in Open Science.

Many stakeholders within academia, including funders, governmental bodies, and research organisations have increasingly embraced Open Science and the FAIR principles. Many funders have already implemented mandatory open access policies, with others poised to follow suit. Horizon Europe, for example, mandates open access to research outputs. Further, The Wellcome Trust, Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s, and others are in the process of refining policies to promote transparency and accessibility. In line with these policies from funders, the Swedish guidelines on Open Science, published by the National Library of Sweden, set similar expectations.

Research assessment is also changing, with a greater recognition for a diverse array of research outputs, including data and software. This evolution underpins initiatives such as the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). CoARA seeks to ensure that researchers and institutions are evaluated based on the full spectrum of their scholarly work, rather than solely on traditional publications.

The new Open Science team at SciLifeLab was formed to support the research community in navigating the emerging needs related to Open Science. The team is dedicated to advancing Open Science and FAIR principles at SciLifeLab by, for example, fostering community engagement, offering guidance, and providing practical resources. The work of the team aligns with SciLifeLab’s mission to enable groundbreaking research by promoting open data, reproducibility, and knowledge sharing.

“Our focus is on integrating Open Science practices into SciLifeLab’s infrastructure, ensuring that researchers have the tools and support to meet funder requirements while making their work more discoverable and impactful. Our aim is to empower researchers to fully leverage the potential of their data” says Christopher Erdmann, Head of SciLifeLab’s newly formed Open Science team.

The Open Science team works closely with multiple other teams and organisations to advance work related to Open Science and the FAIR principles, and is keen to work closely with the research community. Email the team to connect with them directly, and go to the Open Science Section for the latest news from the team.

Christopher Erdmann continues: -”We invite all members of our SciLifeLab community to join us in shaping the future of FAIR and Open Science. Whether you’re looking for guidance on data/software sharing, open-access publishing, or tools for reproducible research, we are here to help. Feel free to reach out to us if you would like to talk further and collaborate with us.”