Enabling Engagement, Innovation and Impact
Open Research Week 2026 is a week‑long, cross‑institutional programme championing the practices, skills and culture that make research more transparent, collaborative and impactful. Delivered in partnership between Midlands Innovation, The Open University and Nottingham Trent University, the week brings together researchers, technicians, librarians and professional services teams who are driving forward open knowledge.
Across five days, participants will discover practical approaches, hear from leading voices, and connect with a vibrant regional network. This year’s programme features standout keynote contributions, including Neil Jacobs (Associate Director, UKRN), who will explore how universities can evolve into truly collaborative, open‑knowledge institutions, and Carl Laflamme (Academic Associate, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University), who will examine how open science principles can flourish even within commercially sensitive environments.
Throughout the week, participants can explore groundbreaking research, engage in thought‑provoking discussions, and uncover new opportunities for collaboration.
Event Details
Monday 16th March
Neil Jacobs, Associate Director UK Reproducability Network
This presentation explores the role of universities as open knowledge institutions and the imperative of embedding open research practices across the academic ecosystem. It begins by defining open research as “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”, highlighting societal, epistemological, and ethical drivers for transparency and collaboration. Drawing on UNESCO’s framework, it examines how openness enhances rigor, trust, and impact through practices such as FAIR data, pre-registration, open citations, and co-creation with communities. The discussion then situates universities within the concept of public or common resources, emphasizing their responsibility to address collective action problems—such as incentive misalignment, free-rider dynamics, coordination gaps, and cultural lag—that hinder widespread adoption of openness. Practical solutions include revising assessment frameworks, investing in infrastructure, and fostering leadership advocacy. Ultimately, the presentation argues that universities’ core mission is knowledge production for societal benefit, requiring systemic strategies and sector-wide collaboration to overcome barriers and realize the transformative potential of open research.
Jodie Heap, Keele University
Open Research is increasingly central to how research is funded, assessed, and shared — yet many people remain unsure what it actually means. This session offers a clear, approachable introduction, moving beyond open access to explore how openness now spans the entire research lifecycle.
Through short activities and discussion, participants will consider what is already established, what is still emerging, and where uncertainties and tensions remain. The session invites reflection on how Open Research is evolving and what it could become in practice.
Tuesday 17th March
Josh Caldicott, University of Warwick
Gabriel Clarke, University of Warwick
Yvonne Budden, University of Warwick
Researchers are frequently reminded to follow Open Research methods and to share their work as openly as possible by funders and institutions over the course of a project, with varying success. To celebrate, recognise and reward those whose projects and practices embody the principles of open, transparent, and collaborative research across disciplines, in 2025 the University of Warwick launched its first Open Research Awards. As a key element of the inaugural Warwick Open Research Symposium, the awards successfully highlighted excellent open research practices across the wide range of research happening all around the university. This talk will show how cross institutional collaboration facilitated the development of the Awards by the Open Research Group, securing funding and institutional buy-in. It also spotlights some of the awardees’ experiences and presents considerations for how we plan to build on what we have learned to further develop ways to recognise good practice by researchers.
A panel discussion with:
Theo Papaioannou / Matthew Cook / Helene Murphy / Despoina Filiou – Open University
Samantha McLean / Adam Varney / Jane Bonnell / Katie Woodhouse-Skinner – Nottingham Trent University
Open research or open science refers to whether research ideas, methods, data and knowledge are performed and shared following principles of transparency, openness, verification, and reproducibility. Open research is not only about sharing; it is also about participation, ensuring new knowledge is co-produced to maximise impact. The principles of open research are important features of open innovation. They are crucial for enabling open collaborative relations between industry and stakeholders for which open and findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) data constitute pathways to innovation.
In the UK, open research has been used to promote university-industry collaboration and hence, it is integral to governments’ mission to deliver economic and social and environmental benefits. According to UK Research and Innovation, accessible, transparent, reproducible, and cooperative research underpins quality and efficiency in the knowledge generation process. In addition, it ensures research outputs are readily shared and therefore strict intellectual property rights (IPRs) such as copyrights cease to be barriers to knowledge exchange and collaboration.
Yet the precise impact of open research or open science on culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration for introducing new technological products and processes within the UK innovation system remains an open question. The aim of this panel is to address this question by debating:
• the ways open research facilitates a culture of knowledge sharing;
• the linkages, networks and learning processes within innovation systems;
• the opportunities for commercialisation of scientific breakthroughs;
• the challenges/trade-offs between open research and data security/commercial interests.
Caroline Ball, Open Book Collective
Helene Murphy, Open University
The Open Book Collective is a community-governed, non-profit organisation that enables libraries to collectively support open access book publishers and the infrastructures that sustain them. Developed through the COPIM and Open Book Futures projects, the OBC offers an alternative to both BPCs and commercially driven read-and-publish models, instead focusing on shared investment, bibliodiversity, resilience, and long-term sustainability for open access monographs and chapters.
This session will introduce the Open Book Collective, explain how its collective funding model works in practice, and situate it within the wider open research landscape. It will explore why books matter to open research, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, and why existing funding and policy approaches often struggle to support them equitably. Drawing on examples from library participation, publisher membership, and supporting infrastructures such as open metadata and preservation, the session will show how collective models can address issues of affordability, discoverability, governance, and global knowledge equity.
Mike Dainton, University of Birmingham
Jim Grange, Keele University
Lucy Veasey, University of Nottingham
Nicola Dowson, Open University
Helene Murphy, Open University
Gwen Kent, Open University
Increasing numbers of Universities in the UK are utilising rights retention policies as a means of ensuring funder-compliant open access research outputs. In this session, speakers from several Universities will reflect on lessons learned from writing and implementing such policies. Come along to explore the opportunities and challenges that come with establishing and maintaining institutional rights retention.
Wednesday 18th March
Kate Snaith, Aston University
Michael Biddle, University of Leicester
In this session three researchers from different research areas across the Midlands Innovation community share their experience of using open research practices in their work. Diverse Literature in Schools (open educational resources) – Dr Sarah Olive (Aston University): In this talk Dr Olive reflects on the experience of developing a range of bilingual open educational resources to support teachers in Wales as part of the cross-institutional “Diverse Literature in Schools” research programme. Only Good Antibodies community Dr Michael Biddle (Leicester University): This talk explores the work of open science partnership the Only Good Antibodies community which partners science stakeholders at institutions, commercial manufacturers, research funders, publishers, and reagent databases, sharing data openly and hosting an open database, master classes and workshops. Preregistering a Registered Report for a Novel and Complex Study – Mrs Michelle Oxtoby (Aston University): This talk considers the experience of a PhD student in navigating the challenges and rewards of using the open research practice of pre-registration in study design for a complex project utilising cognitive modelling to understand response inhibition in the context of gambling.
Angelo Salatino, Open University
Helene Murphy, Open University
This session will address significant threats to scientific integrity, including predatory journals, paper mills, academic misconduct, Generative AI misuse, and rising retractions, all of which are eroding public trust in science. The session aims to explore these “dark side” issues, their underlying mechanisms, and their impact on researchers, institutions, and society. It will also highlight resources like RetractionWatch and PubPeer that promote transparency and accountability in research.
Josefina Weinerova (PhD Studsent), University of Nottingham
Replication is a cornerstone of cumulative science, providing essential insights into the reliability of research findings. Yet, despite an increasing number of published replications, they often fail to affect the belief in and use of original findings.
In this talk, I will explore conceptual and empirical explanations for the limited impact of replications. I will also introduce a Zotero plugin which allows researchers to identify replications of studies in their Zotero library. This plugin was developed during a hackathon which is part of a UKRI funded Making replications count project.
Carl Laflamme, Academic Associate at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University
Chetan Raina, CEO of YCharOS
How can open science principles thrive in commercially sensitive environments? This keynote explores the tension between proprietary interests and scientific transparency, using YCharOS as a case study in bridging this divide. By characterizing commercially available antibodies and publishing independent, open-access data, YCharOS demonstrates that businesses and researchers can collaborate to advance reproducibility and trust—without compromising commercial viability. We’ll discuss how open science models can actually enhance innovation and market value, why leading industry players are embracing transparency, and practical strategies for navigating intellectual property concerns while maintaining scientific integrity. This session reveals that open science and sustainable business aren’t opposing forces—they’re complementary approaches to solving real problems in research.
Thursday 19th March
A panel discussion with:
Janice Ansine / Helene Murphy / Jane Bonnell – Open University
Rachael Leman / Paulina Pawlikowska / Hannah Jenkins / Katie Woodhouse-Skinner – Nottingham Trent University
This panel session explores how citizen science can enable meaningful collaboration, drive innovation, and enhance the impact of research. Hear from four citizen scientists from NTU and The Open University who have successfully employed citizen science methods in their work. Each panellist will share their experiences, approaches, and lessons learned, followed by an open discussion on the opportunities, challenges, and future potential of citizen science in research.
Roni Tibon, University of Nottingham
Josefina Weinarova, University of Nottingham
Rachel Handforth, Nottingham Trent University
The transition towards more open and reproducible research offers great benefits, but also presents significant challenges, particularly for early career researchers (ECRs) and postgraduate research students (PGRs). This webinar focuses on PGRs and ECRs, their supervisors and anyone interested in supporting the next generation of researchers. We will present challenges discussed in the literature, and how they hinder implementation of open and reproducible approaches. We will consider ways to tackle these challenges by exploring targeted activities and practices aiming to support PGRs and ECRs in conducting open research, such as within Collaboratory, a doctoral training programme in the East Midlands.
This workshop explores how co-design and participatory approaches can drive more equitable, effective, and trustworthy healthcare. Drawing on real-world projects, the session will highlight how researchers, practitioners, and communities can work together to shape healthcare education, services, and systems.
The workshop includes insights from three major initiatives as follows:
Dr Chase Staras (who undertook their PhD at NTU), whose work focuses on advancing equity in trans and gender diverse healthcare through participatory action research. Chase’s research centres on co-production, open research practices, and transparent, auditable decision-making to improve healthcare access, doctor training, and system design.
Dr Jitka Vseteckova (The Open University), whose work focusses on uniquely blended approaches to education via co-designing, co-producing, and delivering innovative health and social care solutions with demonstrable national and international impact. Jitka will discuss the inclusive approach to the Take Five to Age Well, UK-wide public health campaign designed to empower wide and diverse ageing populations and communities, tackle health inequalities, increase health literacy, improve self-management.
Prof Christothea Herodotou, whose work focuses on community citizen science and social justice, will discuss co-design approaches in mental health drawing from the PeacePlus+ funded Peace of Mind project and showcasing how collaborative, inclusive design approaches can support youth wellbeing across diverse setting within formal and informal education.
Together, these case studies will prompt discussion on the practicalities, challenges, and benefits of co-design in healthcare, offering participants concrete examples and transferable lessons for their own research and practice.
Friday 20th March
Felix Plesser, Loughborough University
The computational molecular sciences generate vast amounts of research data, which cannot be conveniently captured within traditional supporting information sections of scientific articles. This talk explores why open research data practices are essential for advancing the field through three key scenarios.
First, open data enables researchers to genuinely build on previous work by providing access to raw datasets and computational protocols, allowing them to exactly reproduce published work. Second, open data strengthens trust and reproducibility by enabling independent verification of results and transparent examination of computational workflows, addressing growing concerns about research integrity. Finally, openly available datasets enable data mining and meta-analysis across multiple studies, facilitating machine learning applications and discoveries that transcend original research questions.
This talk demonstrates why research data deserves recognition as a primary research output and makes the case for adopting open data principles in the computational molecular sciences.
Jim Grange, Keele University
Katie Woodhouse, Nottingham Trent University
This interactive wrap-up session will bring together our collective insights from this year’s Open Research Week and create a space for discussion about where we go next. We’ll start with rapid 1-minute lightning contributions from colleagues across Midlands Innovation, the Open University and NTU, from across a range of disciplines, responding to three questions: What’s working? What needs to change? What are our blind spots? As attendees, you will have a chance to have your say on these questions. The session will end with a live voting exercise, where we collectively select the top “working”, “change”, and “blind spot” areas. The goal is to leave Open Research Week with a clearer sense of what matters most to our community – and what we should tackle next.
