On November 10 and 11, the Open Science Days 2025 took place at the MPG's Harnack House in Berlin. Numerous researchers and other scientific stakeholders came together to discuss the highly topical issue of “Open Science in the Light of Geopolitical Polarization.”
The hybrid event offered more than 100 participants a wide-ranging program of lectures, panel discussions, and opportunities for informal exchange. Organized by the MPDL, the Open Science Days 2025 aimed to openly address the challenges and opportunities facing the Open Science movement in an increasingly complex global environment.
The first day of the conference kicked off with Prof. Dr. John P.A. Ioannidis from Stanford University making a plea for “The importance of rigorous and robust science.”
Dr. Johannes Fritsch from Leopoldina and Jeroen Sondervan (Open Science NL) rounded off the morning program with their presentations. The afternoon began with a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Stephanie Jurburg. Among other things, she discussed open access to research data with Melissa Harrison (EMBL-EBI), Dr. Mathijs Vleugel (Helmholtz Open Science Office), and Dr. Kamran Naim (Open Science CERN).
In the late afternoon, the speakers took the audience on a virtual journey – from Open Science in China (Prof. Dr. Anna Ahlers & Dr. Annina Sofia Lattu) to Turkey (Prof. Dr. Burçak Başbuğ on the topic of earthquake data) to outer space (Dr. Andrea Merloni, Experiences with Russia cooperation -eRosita). The first day of the conference concluded with short lightning talks on various Open Science topics.
Day two of the Open Science Days began with a trio of presentations: Petra Labriga and Prof. Dr. Dietrich Rebholz-Schuhmann (both ZB Med) kicked things off with their presentation on the importance of resilient infrastructure in science, followed by Dr. Adrin Jalali (:probabl.), who has made machine learning the focus of his work and is now a startup founder. Third to take the podium was Matthew Cannon (Taylor & Francis), who spoke about the future of open science from a publisher's perspective.
Finally, Dr. Dagmar Meyer (ERCEA) presented Open Science from the perspective of the European Research Council, thus contributing the final presentation to the conference. Among other things, she addressed the ERC's recommendations regarding the enhancement of research security and explained the specific restrictions that apply, for example, to research collaboration with Russia and Belarus.
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