Open by Design: Large-Scale Implementation

Open Science NL

Since 2022 the Dutch government has made available substantial funding to support the transition to open science in the Netherlands. The aim of the investment is to make open science the norm. A budget of €20M a year is available for a period of 10 years (2022-2031). The Dutch Research Council (NWO) was asked to set up a dedicated organisational structure (a ‘regieorgaan’) to take responsibility for the allocation of these funds. After a period of intensive and constructive consultation with the field, Open Science NL was launched in March 2023 with the signing of a covenant by 16 organisations in the Netherlands, including the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Open Science NL will operate on the basis of two-year strategic cycles. Every two years, a work programme will be drawn up describing how the available budget will be spent and what funding instruments will be developed within that cycle. The starting points for the Open Science NL work programmes are the strategic goals and objectives formulated in the Dutch National Programme Open Science (NPOS) 2030 Ambition Document and Rolling Agenda.

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Launched

| Updated: 15 May 2024

Organization:

NWO – Dutch Research Council
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Keywords:
Assessment/Evaluation, Facilitation, Incentives, Policy

Project Goals

The mission of Open Science NL is to establish open science as the norm in The Netherlands by 2030. It does so by funding activities that promote, facilitate and stimulate the adoption of open science. In addition, Open Science NL brings together stakeholders at both the community and administrative levels to facilitate collaboration and coordination of their individual open science programmes. The supporting of capacity building and infrastructure is also one of the instruments that Open Science NL invests in. Open Science NL cannot make structural long-term investments. However, providing funding to kick-start new initiatives could enable individuals and institutions to test and evaluate new approaches, and if successful develop cases for long-term sustainability, and gather evidence to convince the relevant stakeholders to commit to structural funding. Accordingly, applicants will be expected to outline their long-term sustainability plans as part of the application process, and those plans will be evaluated during the assessment stage.

Deliverables

Open Science NL is responsible for allocating the funding made available by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Executive Board of the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The distribution of the funds should always contribute to the main goal of establishing open science practices as the norm. For the work field, Open Science NL needs to facilitate collaborations within the community, and support all aspects of open science practices, either in development or already in operation.

What's Needed

Interaction with the work field is crucial to develop the right funding instruments and thus accurately support open science practices. Not only does Open Science NL need the input of stakeholders to construct the work programmes, but also for them to submit proposals or promote our funding programmes to the intended audience. Promotion of these instruments is also one of the tasks of the Open Science NL office itself. Only when the funding reaches those projects that facilitate or even accelerate open science practices, can the goal of those practices becoming the norm be achieved.