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September 1st, 2014

Discovering Open Practices: one-day conference on open research information for PGRs and Early Career Researchers.

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Blog Admin

September 1st, 2014

Discovering Open Practices: one-day conference on open research information for PGRs and Early Career Researchers.

1 comment

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

lucyThe FOSTER project is currently looking at sustainable mechanisms to encourage wider adoption of open practices amongst EU researchers. A one day conference this Thursday in London will look to introduce key themes and wider considerations of open access for students and early career researchers. Lucy Ayre writes the aim of the afternoon is to show the practical steps, which complement quality research in achieving this common goal for an ECR.

On Thursday 4 September PhD students and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from three London universities will gather at the Anatomy Theatre, Kings College London to get everything out into the open. Open Access, Open Data, Open Science are topics which carry immediate effects on new and upcoming postdoctoral scholars; but what are their views, and how prepared are they to adopt open practices into their daily workflow? These questions touch on issues that the conference and the FOSTER project aims to explore.

In the morning session participants will hear from expert speakers in the field of Open Access advocacy and academic practice: setting the scene, giving an overview of developments and offering a ‘state of the nation’ on open practices for academic research.

FOSTER-hires

The afternoon session will be made up of three practical workshops on a range of topics including Open Access publishing, data sharing, impact, blogging and metrics. The practical sessions will introduce researchers to the librarians and support staff in their institution, offering a hands-on introduction to the services currently available to them for optimizing their research visibility and *impact*.

In a world where securing research funding relies increasingly on the ability to demonstrate the aforementioned *i* word, the aim of the afternoon is to show the practical steps, which complement quality research in achieving this common goal for an ECR. Some participants may have already been successful in securing research funding; however all will benefit from clear guidance on Open Access policies from funders such as Research Councils UK, Wellcome Trust and the European Commission Horizon 2020.

The closing panel of advocates will be presenting on their own experiences of Open Science as students and ECRs, followed by opening up the floor for peer to peer comment and open discussion. We’re glad to be facilitating informed discussions amongst tomorrow’s lecturers, research associates, professors and Heads of Departments, these could be the voices who influence future decision making around scholarly practices in Higher Education.

This conference is the result of combined efforts from LSE, KCL and QMUL libraries, organised with funding from the European Commission, which is why outputs from the day will be available on the FOSTER Portal. We hope to see a continuation of these wider research community collaborations.

To register for this Thursday’s conference, and to see the programme, bookings and information are available online.

Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the Impact of Social Science blog, nor of the London School of Economics. Please review our Comments Policy if you have any concerns on posting a comment below.

About the Author

Lucy Ayre is the manager of the institutional repository LSE Research Online and works within Research Support Services at LSE Library.

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Posted In: Academic publishing | Impact | Open Access

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