Project on research ethics and research integrity successfully concluded

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After three years of work on the ENERI (European Network of Research Ethics and Research Integrity) project, ALLEA and its partners have successfully concluded the project during a final conference at the end of October in Brussels.

As a project, ENERI sought to improve the exchange between experts in research ethics and research integrity across Europe by providing learning material and platforms for exchange for research integrity and ethics practitioners.

While working on this project ALLEA built valuable relationships with the European networks for research ethics, ENRIO, and for research integrity, EUREC, which are an excellent basis for future joint activities and will be put to good use.

The main outcomes of ENERI are:

1) The ENERI E-community

The e-community is a platform for experts in research ethics and research integrity to discuss and share information and documents across Europe. The community is growing and hosts currently just fewer than 200 members. The project ended but the community, which is hosted on SINAPSE, a service provided by the European Commission, will continue to exist.

It is still possible to become a member of the group. To do so, please send a message to Panagiotis Kavouras (kavouras@chemeng.ntua.gr), the administrator of the page.

2) The Research Integrity Handbook

The handbook takes stock of different practices concerning the investigation of research misconduct in different parts of the continent. In the absence of harmonized and formalised European legislation the handbook compiled existing best practices. It is used as a basis for further harmonization on the European level, but also to assist countries with emerging research ethics and integrity structures to quickly establish common standards.

3) The ENERI decision tree

The decision tree is a handy tool for researchers as well as members of research ethics and research integrity committees to reflect on ethical issues and challenges before and during research. It is strongly recommended to work with the ENERI decision tree alongside the H2020 Ethics self-assessment and the European Commission‘s guidelines on ethics and data protection .

ENERI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 710184.

More information on: www.eneri.eu

Let’s be FAIR! ALLEA presents recommendations for sustainable data sharing in the humanities

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A new ALLEA report provides key recommendations to make digital data in the humanities “Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable”, in line with the FAIR principles. The document is designed as a practical guide to help scholars, research funders, professionals and policymakers navigate the shift towards a sustainable data sharing culture.

In a digital world, the abundance of data offers new opportunities for all research fields, including the humanities, where the digitisation of texts, images, sounds, video recordings and other data types can significantly contribute to advancing research, while also transforming methodologies and scholarly communications.

But data requires management, and data management requires common guidelines for good implementation. In recent years, the FAIR principles have been widely adopted as best practice in data management for research and other professional fields. For instance, they are quickly gaining ground in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums, whose data collections hold crucial resources for scholars in the humanities.

Addressing these developments, the ALLEA report “Sustainable and FAIR Data Sharing in the Humanities” helps translate these principles into practice. It proposes technical, legal and ethical considerations to construct, store, preserve, disseminate and publish data in such a way that they can be retrieved, accessed, reused, and interoperable.

“To exploit the true potential of humanities scholarship, and to share and combine data across disciplines to address big challenges, we need an awareness and common understanding of the FAIR principles and the nuances of their implementation. It is clear from ongoing discussions in scholarly communication and through the development and rapid proliferation of the Open Science paradigm that the FAIR principles are having a sustained impact on research practice. To support scholars and institutions aiming to produce FAIR data, this report combines practical advice on how to align with the principles, with a focus on practical guidance from a humanities perspective. We hope they prove useful in the collective effort to move towards more a more open research landscape,” states Dr. Natalie Harrower, Chair of the ALLEA E-Humanities Working Group.

Data management lifecycle

Following the data management lifecycle, the report is structured in five stages: (1) identify, (2) plan, (3) collect/produce, structure & store, (4) deposit for preservation, cite & share, and (5) disseminate. For each phase, a set of practical recommendations and further reading are presented. The authors consider the differences among data sharing cultures across disciplines in the humanities but also encourage pathways towards interdisciplinary data practices.

Launch and Public Consultation

The publication was prepared by the ALLEA E-Humanities Working Group and builds upon the most recent developments in the FAIR and EU research policy landscape. A public consultation to seek feedback from researchers and practitioners was launched at ALLEA’s General Assembly, the annual meeting of European Academies, in May 2019. The working group received more than 200 suggestions, which were carefully considered and incorporated.

The report was launched at the 15th International Digital Curation Conference today. Follow the discussion at #ALLEAFAIR #IDCC20

ALLEA and Global Young Academy launch strategic partnership

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ALLEA and the Global Young Academy have started a strategic partnership to foster closer ties between the two organisations. The partnership, formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding, capitalises on the diverse expertise and experience of both organisations.

The Global Young Academy (GYA) gives a voice to young scientists around the world with 200 members from 57 countries, while ALLEA, as the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, represents more than 50 academies from over 40 countries in Europe. The partners seek to enhance knowledge exchange and establish a set of joint activities on topics of mutual interest at the interface between science, society and policy.

A first step in this cooperation seeks to strengthen cross-border collaboration between researchers from different age groups, disciplines and at different stages of their career paths. Building on and further consolidating existing forms of cooperation between ALLEA and GYA, the partnership kicks off with projects aimed at analysing and rethinking current research assessment models as well as scientific publication and peer-review practices.

Koen Vermeir, GYA Co-Chair:

The GYA aspires to empower young scientists in regional and global contexts. We see ALLEA as a natural partner for this mission and our collaboration will create new international platforms for intergenerational, interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue. We are excited to work together more closely in the coming years towards improving the science system and to promote our common values of scientific excellence and service to society.

Antonio Loprieno, ALLEA President:

Promoting science as a global and borderless public good and creating an inclusive, diverse research environment are among our key priorities. Through this partnership, we can further pursue these objectives and enhance the dialogue between researchers at various career stages. In ALLEA we look forward to working even more closely with our colleagues of the Global Young Academy in the future.”

One upcoming joint project develops around a public symposium ‘Research Assessments that Promote Progress in Scholarly Work and Strengthen the Contract with Society’ in the Academy Palace in Brussels on 16 June 2020. The event will focus on the future direction of research; values, incentives and rewards in scientific work; the notion of excellence; and the role of research assessment in scholarly work. To register and read more about the event click here.

ALLEA 2020 General Assembly: Registration is now open

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The UK member academies of ALLEA will host the next General Assembly in London on 3 and 4 June 2020. Registration to the event is now open.

On the occasion of the ALLEA General Assembly, a scientific symposium on “Research Collaboration in Changing Times” will take place on 4 June. In addition to the symposium, the event will feature the awarding of the 7th All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values and the annual business meeting of ALLEA’s membership. The ALLEA General Assembly will bring together representatives of academies of sciences and humanities from 40 countries across the Council of Europe region, leading researchers, policy-makers and civil society representatives.

The core deliberations of the scientific symposium will touch on research collaboration in times of major transformations and challenges for Europe. Discussions will be of particular importance to those concerned with ensuring and enabling high quality international research collaboration.  Among others, core questions will cover how Europe can strike a balance between excellence in research and the development of underfunded regions, and how research can contribute to solving major societal challenges.

These questions will be explored during the three sessions of the Symposium:

  • Protecting Collaborative Research in a Turbulent Europe
  • Balancing Excellence and Regional Equality within Europe
  • Interdisciplinary Research: The Key to the Future?

Detailed descriptions of the individual sessions and the programme are available on the website.

Register now

The scientific symposium is free to all participants.

Confirmed speakers:

  • Professor Ash Amin, British Academy, University of Cambridge
  • Professor Mauro Ferrari, President, European Research Council
  • Professor Ivana Gadjanski, University of Novi Sad
  • Professor Anet Rezek Jambrak, Global Young Academy, University of Zagreb
  • Professor Joyce Tait, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics, University of Edinburgh
  • Professor Ulrike Tillmann, Royal Society, University of Oxford
  • Professor Koen Vermeir, Co-Chair, Global Young Academy, French National Centre for Scientific Research