The Open University (OU) has become the first university in the UK to be awarded prestigious ‘Observer’ status by the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Association, cementing a partnership begun in 2019 in the ESCAPE and Cos4Cloud EOSC projects.
The EOSC works to advance Open Science by creating new knowledge, inspiring education, spurring innovation and promoting accessibility and transparency.
The EOSC’s mission is very aligned with the OU’s Open Research objective to champion a collaborative open research culture, which the OU does e.g. through making its research available on Open Research Online and inviting the public to become involved in research and to become researchers, often with the backing and major reach of the BBC.
The organisation has been able to build on many open research initiatives within the EU and beyond, and its scope is very wide. Central to its work is citizen science, an area that the OU has vast experience in through projects such as Black Hole Hunters and Treezilla.
Stephen Serjeant, Professor of Astronomy at the OU and the university’s representative at the EOSC Association, commented on the achievement:
“We are very proud to have become the UK’s first university to be awarded Observer status by the European Open Science Cloud Association. This continental-scale open research work is a perfect fit to many of our research areas, including space, social sciences and humanities, data science, machine learning, and democratising discovery through citizen science.
“This Observer role allows us to do more than merely observe; we can play a leading role in the UK, helping formulate strategy and joining expert working groups.”
EOSC-A President, Karel Luyben, added:
“We are delighted to welcome the Open University as the first UK university to join the European Open Science Cloud Association.
“With decades of expertise in open research and education, and the largest student body in the UK, the OU’s addition as an Observer of EOSC-A is significant. Having members from the United Kingdom is essential for EOSC-A because of the country’s role in global research and strong tradition in Open Science.”
You may also be interested in:
