e-science and open access, data, science, … a nordic perspective sverker holmgren director the...
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e-Science and Open Access, Data, Science, …
a Nordic perspective
Sverker HolmgrenDirector
The Nordic e-Science Globalisation Initiative
NordForsk
NordForsk is a platform for joint Nordic research and research
policy development
The aim is to facilitate cooperation in all fields of research, higher
education, and research driven innovation when this adds value to
what is being done nationally
One of the priorities is to initiate and participate in multidisciplinary
programs formulated in response to Grand Challenges
An example: Swedish Research Council
Open Access:
2010: ”Researchers receiving grants from the Swedish Research Council must either publish their results in web-based
journals that allow open access, or they must archive the article in an openly searchable database immediately after,
or within at least 6 months, of its publication in a traditional journal.”
Open data:
2012: ”A data publication plan is required if data collection represents a significant part of the project (or equivalent).
The purpose of this is to ensure future reuse of research data for others than those involved in the project. This means
that within a reasonable time, research data should be published and made available through relevant national and/or
international data co-ordination organisations.”
Data services:
2008: SND (Humanities, Social Sciences, parts of Medicine)
2009: ECDS (Environment, Climate)
Another example: NordForsk
“The Partners will aim to take timely concrete steps [...] • optimal circulation and transfer of scientific knowledge, for instance by promoting open access to scientific publications and research data, including through digital ERA”
Open Access and Open Data:
June 1 2012: The NordForsk board decided to sign a joint statement on the on the occasion of the presentation of
the ERA Communication "A Reinforced European Research Area Partnership for Excellence and Growth".
(European Commission and Science Europe, League of European Research Universities (LERU), European University Association (EUA),
European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO), NordForsk)
NeGI and NeIC – Hosted by NordForsk
Activities in the Nordic countries
• e-Science research
• e-Science education
• e-Infrastructure
Collaborative efforts, and
joint/coordinated participation in e.g.
EU initiatives
The eNORIA group
Nordic e-Science Globalisation Initiative - NeGI
Great future!
Way back
NowNordic e-Infrastructure Collaboration -
NeIC
e-Science
“e-Science is about developing and applying advanced tools within information and communication technology (ICT) in order to exploit a new mode of advancing research, complementing theory and experiments. e-Science is also about global collaboration within key areas of science, and about the next generation of infrastructures that will enable it.”
e-Science
e-Science and e-Infrastructure are essential for fostering open science and Innovation! “Empowering the Global Science Commons”
–The Communication Commons –The Data Commons –The Data Production Facilities –The Data Processing Facilities –The Collaboration Tools
NeGI and NeIC: History
A bottom-up + top-down approach !
The “Nordic e-Science ad-hoc group”
• Nordic e-Science report (2007)
The NordForsk Noria-NET on e-Science (eNORIA), commissioned by Nordic
Council of Ministers (NCM)
• Nordic e-Science Action Plan (2008)
Proposal for the Nordic e-Science Globalisation Initiative by NCM
• NeGI and NeIC (2009)
NeGI and NeIC - Characteristics
- Coordinated effort e-Science research – PhD education – infrastructure
Support leading Nordic e-Science research (exploit regional added value)
- Outward-looking activities (coordinated efforts within e.g.
EU-initiatives)
- Governance including national funding agencies (activites aligned with national strategies)
- Common pot funding (no ”juste retour” principle)
- Open access to project results: Publications, Data, Software and Educational Resources
NeGI – the first call for proposals is issued
A Nordic Grand Challenge Research Programme on eScience in Climate and
Environmental research
- 40 MNOK,1-3 Nordic Centres of Excellence for developing advanced models, simulation tools and
tools for data analysis for climate and environmental research, with a special focus on Nordic/Arctic
conditions.
- Requirement: Open access to publications, data, software and educational resources
eNORIA Action Plan
– Training Researchers in e-Science Tools and Methods
– A Nordic e-Science Masters Education
– Sharing and Specialising Nordic e-Science Educational Modules
– Fostering Nordic e-Science Collaboration through Mobility
– A Nordic e-Science Program for Research into Grand Challenges
– Strengthening National e-Science Initiatives
– Open Access to National Data Repositories
– Facilitating Sustainable Grid Infrastructure Collaboration
– Implementing Cross-Border Sharing of Resources
– Environmentally-Friendly Nordic High Performance Computing
Open Access to National Data Repositories
”The Nordic goldmine”: Unique databases and repositories for administrative and monitoring
purposes
Currently under-used for research (Health, Social sciences, Humanities, …)
eNORIA action plan: Enable combined use of existing and emerging data for research in
selected areas
eNORIA Task Force proposal: Establish the Nordic Center for Data Collaboration within the
Health Sciences (NCDH)
Challenges…
Open access to data is essential for research in many fields (of great importance to society)
1996: Human Genome Project becomes a forerunner in Open Data
Why is progress so slow???
2012: NCM report on Nordic collaboration on data
Organisational challenges
• Scattered data resources
• Authorities lacking research perspective
• The lack of a common language – researchers versus authorities
• Specific challenges for register-based research – access to personal data
• Researchers hesitation towards data sharing despite existing infrastructures
• Lack of Nordic perspective in national strategies targeting research data resources
Legal challenges
• Different legislation regarding mainly personal data in different Nordic countries and between different authorities
• The revision of the EU Data protection legislation – how will it affect the national legislation and possibilities for register-
based research
Financial challenges
• The importance of cost-efficient research
• Not all existing data resources can survive
• Funding incentives for data sharing
• Pooling of national funds for Nordic research benefit
Ethical challenges
• Keeping the societal trust
• Create an ongoing open ethical debate on the Nordic level
• Decide on the role of ethical advisory boards and ethics committees
Technical challenges
• How to go from pilot project to large-scale infrastructure solutions
• Technical solutions need political support
• Importance of monitoring technical solutions in other initiatives and projects
Open data – researcher/university perspective
Open access, open data and open science are needed for rapid scientific progress, e.g.
within Horizon 2020. But…
Academia is conservative!
- Driving force: Publications (journal papers, conference contributions) and references to
publications ….
- Needed: Generally accepted reward system for producing data and making data
available!
- Example: Genetics
