Open Science in UNIMI

The University of Milan adheres to and supports the principles and actions of Open Science, a global movement created to make available and transparent the processes of production, validation, dissemination and evaluation of science, through verification and reproducibility of research.

The University embraces the values of Open Science by adhering to the principle of freedom of access to scientific literature, circulation of research results, and by implementing a multi-level science communication and dissemination policy to give visibility and access to research results.

The University’s commitment to full accessibility to scientific data and publications began formally in 2005, with its adherence to the Messina Declaration on Open Access to the scientific literature, and proceeded through memberships in the Open Science roadmaps proposed by LERU, the OPERAS consortium for the development of a European infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences, and the open APC (Article processing charges) project for tracking expenditures for APCs.

To spread a true culture of Open Science, the University of Milan has appointed a Commission, chaired by Professor Flaminio Squazzoni and composed of a contact person for each of the 31 departments.

The Unit Performance, Quality Assurance, Evaluation and Open Science Policy supports the Commission and implements actions to foster of Open Science through the following activities:

– Offers authors a service for analyzing publishing venues and ensuring quality control, thereby safeguarding against the selection of predatory publishers for publication

– supports the Open science committee in the development of policies on Open Science issues

– Provides assistance in evaluating copyright agreements – Oversees the primary tools essential for advancing open and collaborative scientific practices (AIR, Dataverse, Milano University Press, fondo di Ateneo per le APC)

– Advances Open Science through extensive training outreach initiatives, and tailored interventions upon request from departments and research groups

– manages the allocation of grants for APCs on the basis of criteria defined by the bodies

– monitors the expenses for APCs incurred by the University and the Departments

– participates in national and international projects and manages the distribution of grants for Article Processing Charges (APCs) based on criteria established by the governing bodies.

– monitors the expenses for APC incurred by the University and the Departments

– monitors and communicates the main developments in the field of scientific communication

How Open Science is being implemented at Unimi

International alliances

4EUplus: European University Alliance, an international alliance of 8 universities: Charles University of Prague, Heidelberg University, Paris-Panthéon-Assas University, Sorbonne University of Paris, University of Copenhagen, University of Geneva, University of Milan, University of Warsaw.

LERU: League of European Research Universities. Founded in 2002 as a partnership among 12 leading European universities, the League has since expanded its membership and now brings together 23 multidisciplinary universities based in 12 different European countries.

Open Science Training

The Open Science unit arranges training and informational sessions tailored for researchers, students, doctoral candidates, and residents. Here the updated list of course

Additionally, it oversees soft skills courses on Open Science specifically designed for PhD candidates.

Collaborative courses with 4EUplus are detailed on the European University Alliance website.