Open Science in the Republic of Moldova - National Conference

The 1st edition of the National Scientific Conference "Open Science" took place on November 22, 2018. The event was organized by the Information Society Development Institute (IDSI), in partnership with REM Consortium (Electronic Resources for Moldova).

 

The conference focused on exploring the emerging challenges and opportunities faced by the Moldovan scientific community as a response the Open Science paradigm. The organisers of the conference aimed to present the contemporary approaches to Open Science and the opportunities for the Republic of Moldova, to promote Open Access and Open Science, to present innovative results related to the use of scientific content, to present the platform which resulted through reengineering of tools in the context of Open Science promotion, as well as to develop partnerships focused on promotion of Open Science in the academic environment.

 

The event was attended by the first vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (ASM), acad. Ion Tighineanu, representative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (MECC) Olga Duhlicher, representatives of the National Agency for Research and Development (ANCD), of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education and Research (ANACEC), members of the academic community. IDSI Director, dr. Igor Cojocaru moderated the event.

 

On behalf of the ASM, the first vice-president of the ASM, acad. Ion Tighineanu congratulated the organizers and authors of the Conference, but also those present at the opening of the first edition of the National Scientific Conference on Open Science. Acad. Tighineanu mentioned that open science does not mean just access to databases, open science means that the entire research process is open and transparent, referencing the draft of the Declaration on Open Science in the Republic of Moldova, which states that Open Science should be based on accessibility, transparency and integrity, ensured by collaboration for excellence in research and an optimal dissemination of knowledge. These are the proper conditions for promoting excellence in research, in acad. Tighineanu’s opinion. In conclusion acad. Ion Tighineanu expressed his certainty that the event will be successful and will continue through the years, because developing science in the Republic of Moldova is a joint effort.

 

Olga Duhlicher, MECC representative, addressed a congratulatory message on the occasion of the event, which aims at examining the opportunities and challenges faced by the scientific community in Moldova. At the same time, Ms. Duhlicher expressed the hope that the researchers and the participants in this event will promote Open Access and Open Science, will present the actual situation and the perspectives of open science in the Republic of Moldova, as well as identify partnerships to promote open science in the academic community.

 

IDSI Director, dr. Cojocaru presented the results achieved by IDSI during the last 4 years, in the framework of project Pilot platform for quality assessment and visualization of digital scientific content in the Republic of Moldova, where IDSI contributed to the improvement of the National Bibliometric Instrument (IBN) and to the development of the stiu.md platform.

 

The Scientific Conference also included the presentation of several reports that addressed the topic of international experience on e-Infrastructures for research data management, the use of the stiu.md platform for bibliometric studies, issues of open evaluation of the scientific journals in the Republic of Moldova, indicators of Open Science, recommendations for the development of Open Science in the Republic of Moldova, the activity of the REM Consortium in support of Open Science in the Republic of Moldova.

 

During the event was presented the monograph „Open Science in the Republic of Moldova” (DOI: 10.5281 / zenodo.146841), written by a group of IDSI researchers. This study aims to assess to what extent the science in the Republic of Moldova is open. It included an evaluation of the adopted policies, the degree and the way of opening the research results, the incentives for open science through the indicators used during evaluation, the used infrastructures and other aspects relevnat for Open Science.

 

Later during the conference, the participants signed the Declaration on Open Science in the Republic of Moldova, which encourages researchers, teachers, culture people, R&D decision-makers, students, librarians, citizens to support and contribute to the elimination of barriers to the implementation of Open Science, Open Access publishing, enhancement of competence and trust in Open Data, ensuring the research integrity, development of open e-Infratructures, citizen science.

 

IDSI platform for the support and promotion of Open Science (Dr. Igor Cojocaru, Director, IDSI)

e-Infrastructures for research data – international experience (Mihai Grecu, IDSI; Dr. hab., prof. univ. Nelly Țurcan, USM, IDSI; Dr., conf. univ. Andrei Rusu, IMI „Vladimir Andrunachievici”; Ion Coșuleanu, IDSI)

Platform stiu.md for bibliometric studies  (Rodica Cujba, IDSI)

Open evaluation of research journals in the Republic of Moldova (Dr. hab., conf. cercet. Vitalie Minciună, ANACEC, IDSI)

Open Science indicators (Dr. hab., conf. cercet. Elena Ungureanu, Institutul de Filologie Română „B.P.Hasdeu”, IDSI)

Recommendations for Open Science development in the Republic of Moldova (Dr. hab. conf. cercet. Gheorghe Cuciureanu, ANACEC, IDSI)

REM Consortium supporting Open Science in the Republic of Moldova (Dr. Silvia GHINCULOV, Președinte, Consorțiul REM)

Presentation of the monograph “Open Science in the Republic of Moldova”  (Dr. hab., prof. univ. Nelly Țurcan, USM, IDSI)