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Programme Open Science I – 2021 bis 2024

A higher education policy cooperation project on Open Science - from its strategic mission to the implementation and its impact

The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) commissioned swissuniversities to strategically develop the topic of Open Science - 2015 with Open Access and 2020 with Open Research Data - and to pursue it with the ERI partner organisations. With the Open Science I programme (2021-2024), swissuniversities thus realised its contribution to the implementation of the national strategies.

The implementation work was conceptualised by the Delegation Open Science – as the steering body – in collaboration with the universities, national partners, experts and the swissuniversities General Secretariat. The aim of this coordination was to ensure that the calls for projects corresponded to the strategic objectives, needs and realities of HEIs and research communities. This work resulted in the following focal points:

  • Open Access: focus on negotiations with the big publishing houses, the setting-up of shared services and OA infrastructures and the establishment of OA policies within the HEIs.
  • Open Research Data: Promotion of ORD services at HEIs and practices that are compatible with an open access to research data 

The calls were issued on a competitive basis. They were aimed at institutional development and also included project assignments with a nationwide focus. An internationally composed reviewers' pool evaluated the project applications. Based on this, the Delegation Open Science took the funding decisions.

The Impact of the Programme Open Science for Innovation

As a driver of innovation, the Open Science programme generates added value for the higher education landscape that extends beyond mere coordination. The following changes have been observed with the implementation of the Programme Open Science:

  1. The range of services has been expanded and made more visible. Researchers are increasingly utilising the services offered by higher education institutions and university libraries for Open Science (such as repositories and research data management).
  2. Higher education institutions have thoroughly engaged with Open Science at a strategic level. The Programme has contributed to the establishment of institutional policies and standards.
  3. Open Science networks have been strengthened and new discipline-specific networks have been established. This is particularly noticeable in ORD, where an exchange on standards or on the area of tension with knowledge security was still largely lacking four years ago.

This brochure (available in French and German) offers a portrait of this higher education policy cooperation project on Open Science - from its strategic mission to the implementation and impact of the Programme. 

The impact analysis has shown: The Programme Open Science has proven to be a guarantee of success for the collaborative development of Open Science at higher education institutions and has enabled flagship projects.