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Open Science is transforming how research is produced and shared, increasing cooperation among scientists. All across Europe, initiatives are emerging to promote Open Science and Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� is a leading institution in this process. Why is this important for UU students and what can be our contribution?

In the past few years, the European Union has been particularly sensitive to the matter of open science and it has made it one of its top priority policies. Through the creation of Horizon Europe, the European Commission is funding numerous projects and among the most relevant for researchers there are the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and Open Research Europe (ORE). The aim is to set up an online open science ecosystem that cuts across borders and scientific disciplines, following FAIR principles.

Dutch institutions have not been silent on this issue either and Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� is on the forefront of promoting Open Science. In fact, the UU was the first Dutch university to create an Open Science Community (OSCU) () and an Open Science Programme to promote interdisciplinary, open, and accessible research and the creation of “knowledge ecosystems” where research output can be broadly shared. Open science is a fundamental theme of the Strategic Plan 2025, published in January by the UU, in which the GSLS is actively involved. Among its many objectives, the Strategic Plan has been developed to evolve the structure of research and its impact on society by making research results freely available.

Nowadays, the implementation of Open Science is becoming a stronger topic regarding research. Scientists are producing massive amounts of data that could be used in other disciplines to tackle difficult and multifaceted issues, like climate change, and to advance many fields of research. The problem is that this data is not always easily accessible because of high paywalls, the dependence of researcher from high-ranking journals to raise their H-index, the lack of publication of “negative” or complete data, that creates a “reproducibility crisis”.

Initiatives on the national and international level promoting Open Science are set-up to support researchers and boost science by enabling data sharing, cooperation among different fields, improving data management and security. Open Science is an international process that is gathering momentum and that will be significant for the researchers of the future. There are many projects that UU students can take part in, for example by becoming members of the Open Science Community Utrecht or participating in symposiums about data management and sharing. Researchers and students are in the middle of this transforming process that has the possibility to change research as we know it, creating a FAIRer, more accessible, and transparent science.