News

A look back at the launch of the Open Science Community Wageningen

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June 20, 2022

On 13 May, the Open Science Community Wageningen (OSC-W) kicked off with a launch event in Omnia. Elisabeth Bik spoke on scientific integrity and the first Lighthouse Award was presented.

Keynote lecture on scientific integrity

The keynote speaker was the American-Dutch scientist Elisabeth Bik. Her lecture was about the dark side of science: misconduct in biomedical research. Her drive for scientific integrity is remarkable. She stated that “it is very likely that you have read and used a fabricated paper” – a scary thought... Elisabeth explained what misconduct is, why people commit fraud in science (pressure to publish, taste of success and power play) and which information can prevent you from citing cite a fabricated article (use PubPeer!).

Edoardo Saccenti (WUR - Systems and Synthetic Biology), discussed the importance of the 3R’s, i.e. repeatability, replicability and reproducibility, in science. He also explained how to p-hack in practice - please don’t try this at home! Vittorio Saggiomo (WUR - BioNanoTechnology), raised the question why science is becoming more and more non-repeatable, and how Open Science can help to prevent this.

Lighthouse Award 2022

Justin van der Hooft -Lightouse Award.jpg

The OSC-W also organised a contest as a stimulus for WUR and NIOO-KNAW researchers who contribute to open science in a structural, original and inspiring way. Assistant Professor Justin van der Hooft (WUR -BioInformatics) was selected as the winner. He won the award for his distinguished role in building the Paired Omics Data Platform, a community-driven initiative to link genomic and metabolomic data in a computer-readable format. Read more on van der Hooft and his winning project.

Discuss and exchange experiences

The OSC-W is a platform for open science newcomers and experienced researchers to inspire each other, to embed open science practices and values in their workflows, and to provide feedback on policies, infrastructure, and support services. The next lunch seminar is scheduled for 15 September. The topic is open-source software for 3D food printing by Yizhou Ma.

You are invited to become part of the Open Science Community- Wageningen. The membership is without obligation. You will just receive the newsletter with upcoming events and news. If you have questions or comments, please send them to osc-wageningen@wur.nl.