Making research and education accessible to all.

#OpenSciGalway

Open Science is a global movement towards research and educational practices that are collaborative and transparent. The aim of open science is to make research and educational resources publicly available as early as possible, as well as actively encouraging the co-creation of knowledge and participation in research by the general public. Despite the terminology used, Open Science encompasses all disciplines, including arts and the humanities, and also includes open educational resources (OER), open educational practices (OEP) and open pedagogy. At present there is a growing revolution to change how information is produced and used, with the aim of improving efficiency, access and equity of research and educational outputs for all.

NUI Galway Open Science Week is the first of its kind in Ireland, and is an exciting and innovative event that will bring together researchers, academics, educators, policymakers and members of the public to highlight and showcase what open science is and how it can be achieved, to work together towards creating knowledge that is open and accessible to all. Events taking place across exciting, innovative event will target several elements of Open Science, including Open Data, Open Access, Open Education and Citizen Science.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Monday 8 April 

12:00  |  Launch

Hardiman Building G011
FREE

Launch of NUI Galway Open Science Week by Prof Lokesh Joshi.

12:05 - 13:30  |  Lunchtime Movie screening - Paywall

Hardiman Building G011
FREE

The movie Paywall focuses on the need for open access to research and science and questions the rationale behind the $25.2 billion a year that flows into for-profit academic publishers. Followed by Q&A and light lunch. This event is aimed at researchers academics and admin from any institution and members of the public. 

Register here. Contact Peter Corrigan for more information. 

14:00 - 16:00  |  Wikipedia edit-a-thon on Women in Science

AS203 The River Room, Arts & Science Building
FREE

Women in science are under-represented on Wikipedia, with just 18% of biographies for women! Our aim is to add overlooked women and women’s work in science to Wikipedia. Our edit-a-thon will copyedit, source, and write articles and can teach you how to do these things too! No experience needed. Supported by Wikimedia Community Ireland. This event is aimed at researchers, academics, admin from any institutions, Wikipedians and members of the public.

Register here. Contact Jessamyn Fairfield or Sharon Flynn for more information. 

Tuesday 9 April

Open Educational Resources (OER) Policy Lab

AM207, CELT Seminar Room, Arts Millennium Building
FREE

In cooperation with the OER19 conference team and the Centrum Cyfrowe, the OER World Map project organizes the first OER POLICY Lab. The aim is to collect global OER policies, with a special focus on Europe, identify new functionality needed for the OER Policy Registry, and develop a global network of OE Policy Experts who want to cooperate in order to facilitate global mainstreaming of Open Education. The event is aimed at experienced and soon-to-be experts on OER and Policy Making.

Register here. Contact Sharon Flynn  or Catherine Cronin for more information. 

12:00 - 13:30  |  Data Conversation - Talking Historical Data with Dr Kieran Fitzpatrick & Dr Ali Hasnain

The Bridge Room 1001, Hardiman Building
FREE

Data Conversations are informal events where Data issues, especially Research Data Management issues are discussed. These informal events are a mixture of short talks and panel discussions aimed at bringing our researcher community together in a relaxed and friendly environment. The Conversations provide an opportunity for participants to meet researchers from different disciplines and at different career stages, together with the support personnel who can help them with their Research Data Management Plans. 

Why Data Conversations?

Open Research Data is at the heart of the research process and Open Science. Properly collected and interpreted data as evidence drives decisions in every domain. Generating knowledge in a publicly funded institution often with publicly funded money implies a public responsibility.

The  Data Conversations aim to bring data practitioners together to talk about how might researchers best create, collect, use and share data in the context of Open Science. Views on Research Data Management will vary across disciplines and research methods. Managing sensitive interviews data in the Health Sciences differs from working with large datasets generated by machines or sensors. We want to provide a platform to discuss how you approach data management and what challenges you face.

The Data Conversation brings together researchers, research support staff and data management experts from all subject areas. Experienced researchers are welcome as well as PhD students.

Register here. To learn more contact Peter Corrigan

 

Wednesday 10 - Thursday 11 April

10th Annual Open Educational Resources (OER) Conference 2019

Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS)
Tickets starting at £200

The 10th Annual OER Conference is being held for the first time in Ireland.

Keynote speakers include Dr. Kate Bowles (Univ of Wollongong), Dr. Su-ming Khoo (NUI Galway), Taskeen Adam (Univ of Cambridge), Caroline Kuhn (Bath Spa Univ) and Judith Pete (Catholic Univ of Eastern Africa) Learn more about the keynote speakers here

This year’s conference theme is: “Recentering Open: Critical and Global Perspectives”, focusing on critical approaches to open education and how Open Education can improve educational access, effectiveness, and equality.

The conference is targeted at educators from all sectors, students, researchers, and policy makers.

Register here. Contact Catherine Cronin to learn more. 

Thursday 11 - Friday 12 April

9.30-16.00/9.00-16.30  |  Open Science in Health Research: two-day introductory workshop for early career researchers

AMB-GO65 (School of Psychology)
Tickets €50 include lunch and refreshments

This two day workshop will include guest speakers and hands-on workshops. Speakers include national and international experts including:  Professor Declan Devane (NUI Galway, HRB-Trials Methodology Research Network, Evidence Synthesis Ireland), Dr Sile Lane (AllTrials Initiative, Sense about Science), Dr Hopin Lee (Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences Catalyst/University of Oxford Centre for Statistics in Medicine), Dr Chris Noone (NUI Galway), Dr Darren Dahly (University College Cork, HRB Clinical Research Facility), Dr Karen Matvienko-Sikar (University College Cork, Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences Catalyst), Vicky Hellon (F1000, HRB Open Research), Dr Peter Murray Rust (University of Cambridge) and Dr Annalisa Montesanti (Health Research Board).

Workshop aims to build capacity in open science specifically amongst early career researchers in Irish health research.

Workshop objectives are to: 

  1. Provide a general overview of open science, its components and principles,
  2. To develop basic open science knowledge and skills in a) research design and planning, b) data management and analysis, c) research reporting and d) publication and dissemination
  3. Cultivate a generation of future Irish health researchers who are passionate and knowledgeable about open science principles and ideals\

This workshop is aimed at early stage researchers and academics (e.g. MSc, PhD, postdoc, early stage lecturers etc) working in any area of or relevant to health research.

Register here. Contact Elaine Toomey to learn more. 

 

Speaker Biographies

   

Dr Darren Dahly

Dr Darren Dahly is a Principal Statistician and Epidemiologist with the HRB Clinical Research Facility (CRF) in Cork with expertise in patient-focused research collaboration in the areas of data and statistics. He collaborates and consults on a large and varied portfolio of patient-focused and public health research projects, and has recently pioneered a popular Open Science Challenge through the CRF to increase the practice and use of open science methods and tools in health research in Ireland. 

   

Professor Declan Devane 

Prof Declan Devane is Director of the HRB – Trials Methodology Research Network (HRB-TMRN) and Professor of Midwifery at NUI Galway. He is a member of the HRB Open Research National Steering Committee. Declan’s methodological areas of expertise are randomised trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses. He is an Editor with the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Cochrane UK.

   

Vicky Hellon 

Vicky Hellon is the Publishing Editor at F1000 which she joined in 2017 after previous roles in Open Access publishing at Nature Research. Her role encompasses developing content across F1000Research, building collaborations and supporting the development of funder specific publishing platforms, particularly Wellcome Open Research and also HRB Open Research which she is currently project lead on. These platforms aim to change the way science is communicated and provide benefits to researchers with F1000’s unique publishing model. She is passionate about the progression of Open Research and particularly enjoys opportunities to actively engage with the research community.

   

Dr Sile Lane

Dr Síle Lane is director of international campaigns and policy at Sense about Science, a charity that challenges the misrepresentation of science and scientific evidence and advocates for openness and honesty in scientific research. Dr Lane runs the AllTrials campaign for clinical trial transparency, a global campaign for the registration and reporting of all clinical trials and Ask for Evidence, a public campaign to help people request for themselves the evidence behind news stories, marketing claims and policies. 

   

Dr Hopin Lee 

Dr Hopin Lee is a BITSS Catalyst and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Statistics in Medicine – University of Oxford, and the School of Medicine and Public Health – University of Newcastle. Hopin’s research primarily focuses on studying the underlying causal mechanisms of complex interventions, using this method to identify efficient ways of implementing research findings. Hopin has a keen interest in improving the accuracy and transparency of reporting mechanistic evaluations, and in disseminating the merits of open science to both scientists and the general public. 

   

Dr Karen Matvienko-Sikar

Dr Karen Matvienko-Sikar is a HRB Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Public Health, University College Cork. Dr. Matvienko-Sikar is currently working on the development of an infant feeding intervention to prevent childhood obesity. In addition to synthesizing the existing quantitative and qualitative evidence, she has lead on the development of a core outcome set (COS) for infant feeding interventions delivered to children under one year of age. The development of this COS is essential for the transparency, synthesis, and reproducibility of trials of effective interventions for childhood obesity.

   

Dr Annalisa Montesanti

Dr Annalisa Montesanti is the Lead Programme Manager for Health Research Careers in the Health Research Board of Ireland. She is responsible for developing and managing a portfolio of health research careers aimed to support researchers, talent and leadership in order to conduct high quality health research and generate evidence. She has also been involved for several years in the Science Europe - Research Career Working Group - which has a focus on research careers, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility at European level and other national groups.

   

Dr Peter Murray Rust

Dr Peter Murray-Rust is a chemist currently working at the University of Cambridge. He was Professor of Pharmacy in the University of Nottingham from 1996–2000, setting up the Virtual School of Molecular Sciences. As well as his work in chemistry, Murray-Rust is also known for his support of open access and open data. He is now Reader Emeritus in Molecular Informatics at the University of Cambridgeand Senior Research Fellow Emeritus of Churchill College, Cambridge. Murray-Rust is also known for his work on making scientific knowledge from literature freely available, and in such taking a stance against publishers that are not fully compliant with the Berlin Declaration on Open Access. As of 2014, Murray-Rust was granted a Fellowship by Shuttleworth Foundation in relation to the ContentMine project which uses machines to liberate 100,000,000 facts from the scientific literature.

   

Dr Chris Noone

Dr Chris Noone is a lecturer in psychology at NUI Galway with expertise in health, cognitive and LGBT+ psychology. The main focus of his current work is developing the application of network meta-analysis to the synthesis of evidence from health behaviour change interventions. He has specific expertise in statistics, data management and analysis, and reproducible workflow. He was on the steering committee of the inaugural OpenCon in 2014, an annual conference focused on Open Access, Open Education and Open Data.