The Open Science Workshop 2023 - a meeting of those interested in open science - took place, for the fourth time, on Wednesday, 14 June 2023. More than fifty participants gathered at the Faculty of Social Studies, and another 120 attended the workshop online. Experts from Masaryk University spoke about the importance of sharing scientific information and their experience in promoting the principles of open science in the university environment.
"As open as possible, as close as necessary" is one of the essential principles of open science. Even though the term "open science" still raises questions, the goal is not to make all information public, regardless of the context and sensitivity of the data, but to strike a balance between openness and sensitivity. At the fourth Open Science Workshop organized by the Institute of Computer Science and the Faculty of Medicine, experts shared their experience with the university's research and process data.
The Vice-rector for Research and Doctoral Studies Šárka Pospíšilová opened the workshop by saying: "Masaryk University adopted the open Science Strategy on 1 November 2022. It is a strategic document that contains definite steps for application of open science into the life of the university. I am pleased that our university is among the leaders in applying the Open Science in scientific practice, both in open access to scientific data and in secure data storage." After that, the Open Science Manager MU Jiří Marek stressed in his speech that incorporating Open Science methods into research projects preparation can improve the quality of scientific research. Next week, he will also speak about open science and open data at Masaryk University at the UN headquarters in New York, where he has been invited as an expert on Open Science.
In the morning discussions, the workshop speakers focused on applying the Open Science strategy at Masaryk University. As a project with a positive impact on students and scientists, there was mentioned a new advisory service where project teams can consult applications and get feedback on open science methods. The EOSC Representative for the Czech Republic Luděk Matyska presented to the meeting participants the European Open Science Cloud initiative supporting Open Science in research data management. He stressed that "open" data can be confusing because not all data are suitable for sharing as they contain sensitive information. He drew attention to the so-called FAIR Data, which is not fully available online but remains accessible to experts. Then, Jan Širůček from the MU Research Ethics Committee presented the topic of data in the humanities, and Lucie Tomaňová talked about the data in academic librarianship about artificial intelligence.
The afternoon session was devoted to data as decision support at Masaryk University. Data expert Martin Komenda from the Faculty of Medicine MU pointed out the importance of internal data systems for desicion-making: "Data should help us, and if it is well processed, it helps us find a way out." In this presentation, with Vice-Dean for Healthcare Study Programmes and Information Technology MU Andrea Pokorná, he talked about the appropriate interpretation of data, and mentioned the time of the coronavirus pandemic when data missed the proper explanation. Project Director Jitka Blažková spoke about operational data and its link to project applications, which was complemented by the practical experience of Director of the Institute of Computer Science Jan Mysliveček. And at the end of the day, IT architect Filip Švaříček presented the possibilities of the MU data warehouse to the audience. This presentation was followed by the Head of the Data Stewardship Department of the MU Institute of Computer Science Michal Růžička with a demonstration of a specific tool called "Data Stewardship Wizard" which is linked to the INET information system, and anyone can use it for planning their research.
The Open Science team has been active at Masaryk University for four years to bring open principles into university life. "This year's workshop was in a hybrid mode, and we were pleasantly surprised by the interests of participants. From the stimulating discussions and e-mail communication, I perceive that interest in open science at Masaryk University is growing," said Open Science MU coordinator Marika Hrubá, who was involved in the organization and is already thinking about the theme for next year.
After a year spent abroad at The University of Texas at San Antonio, our colleague Martin Husák from the cybersecurity team CSIRT-MU returned to us. He was able to complete his postdoc internship in a research group in the USA thanks to a grant to support the mobility of promising researchers. What exactly does he focus on in his research? And why does he think Brno is the best city in the world?
In an interview with Vice-Rector Radim Polčák, we discussed changes in IT at Masaryk University. We discussed how the university is adapting to new needs and how it manages funding and maintaining a high level of IT services. We also touched on the Vice-Rector's view on the importance of the adaptation of the Institute of Computing to the University's strategic plan and the role of IT during crisis situations such as the recent covid-19 pandemic. We also discussed future plans, including the relocation of the Institute of Computer Science and its involvement in research activities and projects such as EOSC.
