Fostering the practical implementation of Open Science in Horizon 2020 and beyond

Project Information

FOSTER Plus

Grant agreement ID: 741839

DOI

10.3030/741839

Project closed

EC signature date 19 April 2017

Start date 1 May 2017

End date 30 April 2019

Funded under

• Develop the accessibility and the use of the results of publicly-funded research

Total cost

€ 925 846,25

EU contribution

€ 925 846,25

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FOSTER Plus (Fostering the practical implementation of Open Science in Horizon 2020 and beyond)

Reporting period: 2018-02-01 to 2019-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

FOSTER Plus aims to contribute to a real and lasting shift in the behavior of European researchers to ensure that OS becomes the norm for research relating to Horizon 2020 and beyond. The FOSTER Plus project is focused on promoting the practical implementation of Open Science, with activities targeting academic staff, young scientists and policy-makers in particular. Building on the existing FOSTER portal and training materials, FOSTER Plus will develop more advanced-level and discipline-specific materials that build capacity for the practical adoption of Open Science and promote a change in culture. The training capacity will be strengthened by addressing the current skills and content gaps, both at community/discipline and institutional levels, providing engaging and outcome-oriented materials for which participants can attain digital badges.
With the combination of face-to-face and e-learning training, FOSTER Plus aims to reach thousands of participants in the ERA, across Europe and scientific disciplines, but with a particular impact on the three disciplinary communities (life sciences, social sciences and humanities) directly involved in the project.
A strong train-the-trainer approach and network of open science trainers to act as ambassadors will help to reach a wide audience.
The specific objectives of FOSTER Plus are:
1. To support a culture change, whereby the practical aspects of Open Science are fully implemented and ultimately rewarded, by providing an advanced-level, outcome-oriented training programme based on courses and activities for which participants can attain digital badges.
2. To consolidate and sustain a training support network comprised of Open Science ambassadors from a range of research performing organisations and research infrastructures.
3. Strengthen the training capacity by addressing the current skills and content gaps, both at community/discipline and institutional levels, on the practical implementation of Open Science.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Concerning project management, the Virtual Research Environment, to facilitate management and the communication within the consortium was initially established as a collaborative space for the project and has been maintained during the entire project. Efforts have been made to update all necessary information on the shared spaces.

Face to face meetings of the General Assembly took place in Guimarães for the kick-off of the project in May 2017 (Figure 1), and in Barcelona in April 2018. One final General Assembly meeting was held on April 30th 2019.More than twenty regular PSC meetings were held during the 24 months of the project. One face-to-face and two virtual meetings with the Advisory Board were realized to get feedback, advise and input from external experts

Regarding training the multi-module Open Science (OS) Toolkit (https://www.fosteropenscience.eu/toolkit) was developed and made available, covering a range of aspects relating to Open Science. Since the launch, the toolkit courses have had 14,000 active uses. 5120 researchers, research support staff and EC and REA project officers attended 157 face-to-face training events. 2332 researchers, research support staff and NCPs attended 59 webinars and online consultations. To assist different stakeholders to fully implement the practical aspects of open science 29 e-learning courses have been created.
Ten Open Science Trainer Bootcamps (Figure 2), totaling 254 participants, were organized to support the building and sustainability of Open Science training capacity.

Concerning the FOSTER Portal (Figure 3) platform (https://www.fosteropenscience.eu) the work was focused on the update of the portal and the integration of the additional features and services:
- the Open Science toolkit (Figure 6),
- the development of the technical infrastructure for self-learning and moderated courses with the association of badges,
- the learning paths
- the trainers directory
- the configuration of the Learning Management System

Relating to dissemination, outreach and advocacy, a strategy was defined in the initial months, and it was operationalized and executed with constant reviews and updates regarding new opportunities and events to communicate project activities and emerging results. The main achievements on the period were:

• Production of new dissemination and advocacy materials, including updated posters, laptop stickers and a leaflet for the new online courses (Figure 4)
• Dissemination of key messages and engagement with public community using social media channels (5309 followers on Twitter, 1528 followers on Facebook)
• A bi-monthly newsletter to communicate project results and activities to the community
• Conduction of a book sprint to write the Open Science training handbook (Figure 5)
• Regular updates of the events calendar with relevant Open Science events from FOSTER and related initiatives
• Improving the FOSTER portal as key dissemination tool including the trainers directory, events calendar and a trainers corner

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project has significantly contributed to an increase of knowledge, and changes in behaviour, about Open Science related issues across different disciplines and stakeholders, preparing them for a real application of Open Science in the European Research Area, in particular in Horizon 2020, reaching out to more than 8500 people, through face-to-face and e-learning courses, producing an Open Science Toolkit, and hundreds of other reusable content, creating and making available, in several languages, an Open Science Training Handbook, and training more than 250 Open Science trainers (see Infographic - Figure 8).

To achieve the project objective “To support a culture change, whereby the practical aspects of Open Science are fully implemented and ultimately rewarded”, 157 face-to face training events were organised, reaching out to 5120 participants, 56 webinars were conducted attended by 2332 participants, the FOSTER Portal was updated with extended functionalities and content, the learning management system, to support the future e-learning courses, was installed, dissemination and advocacy materials were created and started to be distributed in several events and initiatives.

To achieve the project objective “To consolidate and sustain a training support network”, ten train-the-trainer bootcamps took place, to convene a group of open science trainers with a high multiplier potential, and to equip them to deliver FOSTER+ training modules to groups within their own institutions. The Bootcamp participants have also provided feedback on the Open Science Training Handbook. This book, offering guidance and resources for Open Science instructors and trainers, and equipping them with methods, instructions, and exemplary training outlines, has been collaboratively produced in 5 days by a group of 14 authors, and was then translated into Portuguese and Spanish.

To achieve the project objective “To strengthen the training capacity, both at discipline and institutional levels” a multi-module Open Science Toolkit, explaining the main Open Science concepts and components, and providing practical, outcome-oriented lessons, was conceptualized and developed and 1363 new training objects have been uploaded to FOSTER portal. The learning management system, to support the future e-learning courses, was installed and 9 e-learning courses have been created. An institutional policy briefing was developed (Figure 7).

Figure 1 - FOSTER Plus Consortium at Kick-off meeting

Figure 2 - Barcelona Bootcamp

Figure 5 - Open Science Training Handbook Authors

Figure 6 - Open Science Toolkit

Figure 3 - FOSTER portal

Figure 7 - Policy Briefing

Figure 8 - FOSTER Plus Infographic

Figure 4 - Dissemination materials