At a glance:

ScienceOpen and Elephant in the Lab are hosting a panel discussion during Berlin Science Week. The topic the panel will address is “What has the pandemic taught us about Open Science?” With experts from across different fields of the scientific community, this is sure to be an insightful look at this question from a wide range of perspectives. The event will take place in person on November 1st at 6:00 pm (Berlin time) at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. Tickets are limited, so if you’re interested sign up soon via our Eventbrite Listing here! Can’t make it to Berlin? No worries, we will be live streaming the event which you can access here via YouTube. Please do not register for a ticket if you are just going to watch through the livestream. Below are further details about the topics the panel will address and information about the panelists themselves.

Event Abstract

The European Commission has made Open Science a policy priority because it “improves the quality, efficiency and responsiveness of research” and can increase creativity and “trust in science”. For nearly two years now the COVID-19 pandemic has put this vision of “Open Science” to the test.

With this panel discussion we will ask experts from research, publishing, science communication and journalism to share their thoughts on how central tenets of Open Science such as open data, open access, citizen science/public engagement, preprints, open review and alternative metrics fared during the turbo-charge race to understand a new virus. What effects have new Open Science practices had on the speed, quality and quantity of research and its translation into actionable solutions and policies? What unexpected challenges of openness have emerged in the pandemic? Finally, the thorny question that this panel will attempt to answer is whether Open Science can increase trust in science. Join the discussion in person in Berlin at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society.

Please note: Admission will only be granted to persons who have a valid ticket and are tested (on the day of the event), vaccinated or recovered. In order to be able to trace possible chains of infection, there will be a check-in with the Corona-Warn-App. In the rooms of the institute, a face mask must be worn outside of your own seat. A minimum distance of 1.5 metres applies to all visitors. Visitors with cold symptoms and fever should not attend the event.

Meet the Panelists

Since 2017, Benedikt Fecher has headed the “Knowledge & Society” research programme at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. The programme addresses issues at the interfaces of science and digitisation and education and digitisation. Benedikt is also co-editor of the blog journal Elephant in the Lab, which critically examines the scientific system. He is also a member of the editorial board of Publications, an open access journal. In his research, Benedikt deals with questions concerning the governance of science and innovation, in particular with the topics of impact and third mission, open science/open access and research infrastructures.

Diana Kwon is a Canadian freelance science journalist based in Berlin, Germany. Before entering journalism, she obtained a master’s degree in neuroscience at McGill University. As a reporter, she covers the life sciences, health, and academic life through news stories, features, and profiles. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Scientific American, The Scientist, and Nature.

Rebecca Winkels is the Director of Communications and Strategy at Wissenschaft im Dialog (Science in Dialogue) and has previously worked as a science communicator in various roles at the Helmholtz Association and WiD. She holds degrees in Biology and Science Journalism and is currently doing a phd in Science Communication.

Stephanie Dawson, CEO ScienceOpen, grew up in northern California, studied Biology at Yale University and received a PhD in German Literature from the University of Washington. She spent over 10 years at the academic publisher De Gruyter in Berlin in the fields of biology and chemistry in both journals and book publishing. 2013 she joined ScienceOpen as managing director. With ScienceOpen she has been exploring scholarly communication in a digital environment, experimenting with open access publishing, discovery, preprints, open post-publication peer review, community curation, metadata enrichment, and alternative metrics.

In preclinical as well as in clinical studies Ulrich Dirnagl’s research has revealed pathobiology which impact on the outcome after a stroke. Through meta-research, he was able to identify opportunities for improving research practice and to obtain evidence for the impact of interventions targeted to increase the value of biomedical research. At the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Ulrich Dirnagl serves as Director of the Department of Experimental Neurology. Since 2017 he is also the founding director of the QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research at the Berlin Institute of Health. QUEST aims at overcoming the roadblocks in translational medicine by increasing the value and impact of biomedical research through maximizing the quality, reproducibility, generalizability, and validity of research.

More about our partner Elephant in the Lab

We are excited to be co-sponsoring this event with the scientific blog, Elephant in the Lab. Simply put, Elephant in the Lab is passionate about science and so they made a blog about it. But they are not covering the latest findings in physics or biology. This blog is about those problems in science that everyone sees but nobody talks about: The journal system, the idiocy of authorship, citation cartels, career chances for young or female researchers, etc. Looked at in this way, this blog is about elephants after all. Elephants in the lab. Check them out and learn more at their website.

Additional Content from ScienceOpen for Berlin Science Week: The Deep Dive with Stephanie Dawson

Earlier this fall, Stephanie was interviewed for “The Deep Dive” series by Berlin Science Week. In this piece, you will hear Stephanie’s thoughts on what open science is and why it matters. You can watch the interview on Berlin Science Week here. This interview glances ahead to the event “What has the pandemic taught us about ‘Open Science’?” We are proud to be deeply involved with Berlin’s scientific and research community. On a related note, Stephanie is currently at the Frankfurt Book Fair! It’s been a busy Fall with in-person conferences and events getting going again after a long year and a half hiatus. We’re looking forward to seeing you on the 1st if you’re able to make it!