Gareth O’Neill on Open Science and Early Career Researchers

Insights Xchange: Conversations Shaping Academic Research

In today’s episode, Nikesh Gosalia and Gareth O’Neill chat about the recent shift toward open science. They start by discussing Gareth's early days as a linguistic lecturer, his foray into open access, and his activism on behalf of researchers at the European Union, as well as his work with open science projects Eurodoc, FOSTER, and DRC. Gareth shares his observations on the stalled progress toward open access in recent decades and the factors that affect this, including different business models, cOAlition S, and the shift in power from publishers to researchers. Nikesh and Gareth then talk about how early career researchers can be supported, from open research to mental health. Gareth emphasizes the need to reevaluate the purpose of a PhD and reduce unnecessary activities to keep weekly hours manageable. He also addresses a major flaw in the current research assessment system — the excessive focus on publication — and talks about the need for a more well-rounded reward system.

Gareth O'Neill is the Principal Consultant on Open Science at the Technopolis Group as well as a doctoral candidate for theoretical linguistics at Leiden University. As the Former President of the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers, Gareth is a renowned expert on open science for the Dutch Government and the European Commission. Reach him on Twitter.

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