How can I use CERN’s Open Science Office?

Why should I care about open science?

The aim of open science is to make scientific research more accessible, transparent and efficient for the benefit of scientists and society. It includes making the products of research openly available – i.e. providing open access to research publications and sharing research data and open-source software and hardware – but also covers effecting cultural change in scientific processes to ensure that the production of knowledge is inclusive, sustainable and equitable.

What does CERN’s Open Science Office do?

The Open Science Office answers questions, provides guidance and connects the CERN community with experts and resources. It organises CERN open science governance meetings and plans to organise training courses and workshops in the future. It was created in 2023, following the release of CERN’s 2022 open science policy ,and will publish CERN’s first open science report in 2025.

Why is open science important to CERN?

We are lucky at CERN that our founding Convention gave us an early mandate for open science, and it has long been the norm within particle physics to share research results openly. With the digital transformation enabled by the World Wide Web (released by CERN in open source), CERN has pioneered a range of open science activities and services, making our Laboratory a world leader in open science. In recent years, government agencies and research funders from Member States and beyond have recognised the value of open science. This recognition is reflected in increased requirements to demonstrate open science practices when submitting funding applications.

How can I contribute to open science?

You are already doing so when you submit your preprints to CDS or arxiv, publish your research papers in open access in line with our open access policy, make your experimental data accessible at HEPdata or through the CERN Open Data Portal or produce open source software. By sharing your work under licenses that let others use it, study its source code, redistribute it and share improvements, you are helping to promote transparent and inclusive research practices at CERN and beyond.

How can the Open Science Office help me?

Contact the Open Science Office with any questions you might have. We offer guidance on open access publishing options for your papers, as well as advice on creating Data Management Plans (DMPs) to comply with funders’ requirements, and much more.

I want my software or hardware to be open source. How can the Open Science Office help?

The newly launched Open Source Programme Office serves the CERN community with answers and insights regarding open source issues.

How can I find out more about open science at CERN?

You can consult the CERN open science website, which includes details of upcoming events and training courses. You can also register for the Open Science Practitioners Forum e-group and join its regular meetings to have a say in CERN’s open science strategy.

For more questions, contact the CERN open science team at os-office@cern.ch