ºù«Ӱҵ

Wednesday 23rd October 2024, 12-1pm

Beyond open access: Democratising knowledge through accessible research outputs

While making journal and monograph publications open access is an important step in the democratisation of knowledge, the question remains: to what extent are these outputs, created in the often arcane discourses through which we communicate as researchers, genuinely accessible to the broader public? 

In this Open Research Conversation, we explore the work of colleagues who have gone beyond merely making their research publications open, instead pursuing the open dissemination of research in ways that are genuinely accessible beyond the university or research institute. 

Three speakers from the University of ºù«Ӱҵ’s research community - Monika Fratczak (Sociological Studies), Susan Oman (Centre for Machine Intelligence), and Andy Tattersall (School of Medicine and Population Health) - will explore the importance of outputs including blog posts, animations and podcasts in the open communication of research.

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Wednesday 20th November, 1-2pm

Open (as possible) research: Some things to think about when we can't do it all

There's plenty of information available about the gold standard for open and reproducible workflows, along with clear guidelines on how to achieve it. But what happens when reaching that standard seems impossible—such as when using proprietary software? Is it an all-or-nothing situation, or are there steps we can take to make our workflows and data as open and reproducible as possible?

In this open research conversation, we'll hear from researchers and experts who have faced these challenges. They’ll share insights and practical tips on how to increase openness and reproducibility, even when the ideal solution isn’t feasible. Our speakers are (Data Services Lead at the British library and SSI fellow), Chris Stride (Senior lecturer and applied statistician at the University of ºù«Ӱҵ and founder of Figure it Out statistical consultancy and training), and (Research Software Engineer at the British Antarctic Survey).

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Wednesday 4th December, 1-2pm

Opening up practice research

Practice research - including in many arts, humanities and social sciences areas such as sociology, music, theatre and dance - focuses as much on the processes by which outputs are created as on the research outputs themselves. These outputs, moreover, are diverse and occupy a range of media and forms. 

However, practice research processes and outputs have historically been viewed as less easy to capture and make openly available than those issuing from more quantitative, STEM-focused fields, in part due to the limitations of existing repository infrastructure. 

In this Conversation, we hear from researchers and professionals working to address this imbalance, including the SPARKLE ('Sustaining Practice Assets for Research, Knowledge, Learning and Engagement') and PRVoices projects. Speakers include (School of Music, University of Leeds) and (Design, Creative and Digital Industries, University of Westminster).

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Wednesday 22nd January, 12-1pm

Everyday researchers: Exploring citizen science

Often overlooked in broader discussions around open research, citizen science involves a different kind of openness to that which we associate with such practices as the open dissemination of outputs. 

In this context, ‘open research’ instead means the potential for members of the wider public to contribute to the collection and analysis of data - to become, in other words, members of an inclusive and distributed research team. 

In this Open Research Conversation, we’ll hear from researchers with experience of facilitating and leading citizen science projects, exploring the challenges, benefits and unique opportunities such methodologies offer. Our speakers will be Jill Edmondson (School of Biosciences, University of ºù«Ӱҵ), Andrea Jimenez (Information School, University of ºù«Ӱҵ), and  and (School of Biosciences and Chemistry, ºù«Ӱҵ Hallam University).

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Wednesday 12th February, 12-1pm

Spotlight on Data Journals

Data journals offer researchers an opportunity to increase the impact of their openly available data by further documenting a dataset and highlighting the possibilities for its exploration and reuse. 

In this Open Research Conversation, we’ll explore the phenomenon of data journals from a number of different perspectives and disciplinary contexts. (University of Manchester) will explore her role as editorial board member for the Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences, while University of ºù«Ӱҵ researchers Tecla Bonci (Mechanical Engineering) and Jacob MacDonald (Urban Studies and Planning) discuss their own experiences of publishing in data journals.

Key areas of discussion will include the significance of data journals in Humanities and Social Science as well as STEM disciplines, the aspects and use cases of a dataset that publication in a data journal allows academic authors to showcase, and the impacts that can result in terms of visibility, transparency and collaboration.