WBC-RRI.NET project’s partner University of Banja Luka (UNIBL), Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina), in collaboration with three other EU funded projects – BEYOND, ROSiE, VERITY – are holding a mutual learning event (online via Zoom) on 27 November 2023 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm CET.
The presentations by each of the four projects would emphasize experiences gained on their journey to implementing OS and Ethics and are meant to act as a stimulus to trigger exchange of thoughts and ideas amongst participants and speakers, in a dedicated slot for discussion, to promote mutual learning.
- Event Title: Implementing Open Science and Research Ethics: Sharing experiences of the BEYOND, ROSiE, VERITY, WBC-RRI.Net projects
- When: 27 November 2023, 11:30-13:00 CET
- Where: Online (zoom link to be shared after registration)
- Registration form: https://forms.gle/kCTqCPqkZeMwwSux8
Registration is mandatory, though free.
We invite you to join us for this mutual learning event to share lessons learned and personal insights and stories from your experience of working on Ethics, Research Integrity, and Open Science.
Agenda
11:30 – 11:35 – Welcome and Introduction
11:35 – 11:50 – Dr. Andjela Pepic presents University of Banja Luka’s efforts, within the WBC-RRI.Net project, to integrate ethics and research integrity in curriculum and policy influencing activities at the regional level. She will also discuss the various initiatives completed with students to make science grounded in the local communities.
11:50 – 12:05 – Professor Erika Löfström discusses the approach adopted by BEYOND to fulfil the project’s objectives, and the learnings from the project till now.
12:05 – 12:20 – Dr. Signe Mežinska introduces the ROSiE project, its main results and specifically focus on training materials and ROSiE General Guidelines on responsible open science.
12:20 – 12:35 – Dr. Gabor Szudi and Pamela Bartar speak on the topic of societal trust in science, and VERITY project’s goals and project implementation plans.
12:35 – 13:00 – Q&A and Discussions
Summaries of the four participating projects and speaker bios
The WBC-RRI.NET project aims to foster the application of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles at the territorial level in five Western Balkan (4 region-level and 1 country-level) Research and Innovation (R&I) ecosystems with the idea that RRI principles will act as enablers to the shared learning and diffusion of R&I governance innovations at territorial level and enhance R&I planning, including Smart Specialisation Strategies in the WBC. The five WB territories are: Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Vojvodina (Serbia), Skopje (North Macedonia), Albania and Montenegro. The partners representing each of these regions have chosen some dimensions to focus on from the five RRI dimensions– Open Science/Access, Public Engagement, Science Education, Ethics and Research Integrity, and Gender Equality. University of Banja Luka representing Republic of Srpska, is focussing on implementing the dimensions of Open Access, Science Education and Ethics.
Anđela Pepić (Andjela Pepic) is the Head of Centre for Development and Research Support at the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is also Assistant Professor at the Sociology Department, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Banja Luka. She has 15 years of experience in research management and administration, providing support to researchers first at the University of Sarajevo, as the coordinator of the Regional Research Promotion Programme in the Western Balkans (RRPP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then continuing this role at the University of Banja Luka since 2014. She is a Core Group member of the BESTPRAC Thematic group within European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA). Andjela is also a President of the Advisory Board for Gender Equality at the University of Banja Luka and was deeply engaged in gender audit and development of the first Gender Equality Plan at her institution.
Beyond Bad Apples is a three-year project (started in Jan 2023) funded under the Horizon Europe programme. BEYOND’s aim is to develop new ways, based on evidence, to promote research ethics and integrity. The project is investigating the root causes of research misconduct and develops training materials on research ethics and integrity and robust methodologies for impactful training with the goal to foster public trust in science. BEYOND also aims to increase understanding about short, medium and long-term effects of training.
Erika Löfström is Professor of Education at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Director of the International Master’s Programme Changing Education. a primary teacher education program. She has a longstanding interest in research ethics and integrity. Her research areas include research ethics and integrity and related learning and supervision processes, as well as academic writing and plagiarism. She collaborated in the Horizon-funded projects ENERI and Virt2ue. She has published her research in journals, such as Higher Education, Studies in Higher Education, International Journal for Educational Integrity, Ethics & Behavior, and Journal of Academic Ethics. She teaches research ethics/integrity to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students as well as faculty and experts in these areas. Löfström has been a long-time chair (2010-2021) of the non-medical ethics review board at the University of Helsinki. She was a board member of the Academy of Finland (2019-2021) and member and vice-chair of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (2016-2022). She currently chairs the Ethics Expert board that advises the university’s leadership on ethics matters.
Responsible Open Science in Europe (ROSiE) is a three-year project funded by HORIZON 2020. Its mission is to integrate research ethics and integrity in open science and citizen science as a structural component. The ROSiE consortium is developing novel practical tools to foster a responsible open science and citizen science in collaboration with all related stakeholders. ROSiE is also providing customized solutions through an interdisciplinary knowledge hub bound to actively pursuing open approaches in science and research, while complying with relevant legal frameworks and ethical standards.
Signe Mežinska (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3190-100X) is Associate Professor in Bioethics at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Medicine. She holds PhD in Sociology and MSc in Bioethics, and is teaching medical ethics, bioethics, and research ethics for more than 20 years. She is serving as a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee (Vice-Chair 2017-2021), BBMRI-ERIC ELSI network expert, ethics expert for the European Commission and member of several national and institutional research ethics committees in Latvia. She also has served as research ethics trainer in several international research ethics training programs organized by UNESCO, WHO and NIH. Currently, she is a work package leader in Horizon Europe projects ROSiE, BEYOND and FAMILY. She has served as a research ethics trainer for several international training programs. Her scientific interests include biomedical research ethics, ethics of genomics, rational use of medicines, ethics of biobanking, and reproductive ethics.
VERITY (Developing Scientific Research with Ethics and Integrity) is a 3-year-long Horizon Europe project (2022-25) aimed at addressing public mistrust and scepticism in science and promoting science-society collaboration within the European Union (EU). VERITY aims to understand the key factors influencing public trust through comprehensive studies with the aim of developing and validating evidence-based strategies collected within the so-called VERITY protocol. This protocol will provide scientists, policy-makers, and communicators with insights and recommendations on how to enhance trust and foster meaningful dialogue with the public. The end goal of the project is not only to build trust in scientific institutions, but also to encourage the alignment of scientific research with the public’s needs, expectations, and values. Therefore, one key aspect of the project is the promotion of science-society collaboration manifested in the active engagement of citizens in shaping and participating in scientific research and decision-making processes.
Gábor Szüdi obtained a PhD in Economic Policy at the Social Development and Labour Department of the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovak Republic in 2016. His research focuses on (socially) innovative solutions in education and other public services, connected to a better understanding of RRI and open science. Gábor Szüdi is employed at the Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) as a research associate since October 2016. He has been involved in several European-funded projects around more open and inclusive science as project manager and researcher. Prior to starting at ZSI, he worked as a project manager in his home country, Hungary, at the environmental and water management research institute ‘VITUKI’ and worked as a desk officer for the National Research and Technology Office, administering the EUREKA/Eurostars programmes and being responsible for FP7 and Horizon 2020 projects.
Mag.a Pamela M. Bartar studied communication sciences at the University of Vienna and completed a postgraduate programme at the Institute for Cultural Management and Cultural Studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She started at ZSI in 2009 where she became responsible for corporate communications. She is a member of the ÖJC – Austrian Journalists’ Club and specialises in science communication and participatory transfer of educational content and knowledge in the context of science PR. She has several years of experience as a moderator and presenter at various (large-scale) events, as well as in discussion techniques, group dynamics, and workshop design.
Pamela Bartar and Gábor Szüdi were involved together as co-leaders in many European-funded projects, such as the Danube Transnational Programme “Excellence-in-ReSTI” between 2017-2019 (developing and testing a novel hybrid online course for R&I project managers), or Horizon 2020 projects ETHNA (dealing with RRI); TRESCA and VERITY (both dealing with trust in science); or the Interreg project SEED-Hub (focusing on knowledge exchange and development of social entrepreneurs in Slovakia and Austria.
