Maastricht University elections: the university council, and The Party of the Academic Staff

May the fourth blog post in the election
Open Science series be with you when you
cast your vote.

Fourth post in the series about the Open Science questions with respect to the upcoming Maastricht University elections gives the answers I received for The Party of the Academic Staff, candidate for the University Council WP. With their permission to quote them, please find here their detailed answers to my questions.

What is your party's position on Open Science in general?

The Party of the Academic Staff: "Our party is enthusiastic about Open Science and FAIR data and fully endorses this movement. Open Science will enable researchers to share their findings and data, reaching not only other researchers but also the public. This will increase collaboration, transparency, accessibility and the impact of scientific research. We are happy that our Rector fully supports Open Science. We also realize that full Open Science may not fit all disciplines at UM, therefore we support UM’s policy: “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.”

How should Maastricht University promote openly licensed research output?

The Party of the Academic Staff: "The promotion of openly licensed research output needs to be embedded in our infrastructure. It should become part of UM’s policy to make all research outputs available and accessible to the academic community and society. Above all, the discussion needs to be conducted at faculty level and between faculties and research schools, as publication cultures differ across faculties and disciplines. It will be good to hear each other’s views on this. At this moment, we do believe that more support is needed for researchers and that trainings need to be offered, especially to young researchers, to make sure that Open Science policies are easily implemented and accessible to everyone."

Should Maastricht University focus on Open Access, on Open Data, on Open Source, or all equally?

The Party of the Academic Staff: "Open Access, Open Data and Open Source are all important to truly implement Open Science at Maastricht University. However, as research data, methods, outcomes, and needs vary across faculties and disciplines, we believe that not one focus fits for all faculties. Faculties and schools should decide which aspect is most important to fit their research. Stimulation of the interfaculty debate will bring potential issues to the surface, which will be the starting point of finding fitting solutions."

How should Open Science at Maastricht University be funded?

The Party of the Academic Staff: "We believe that Open Science should be funded centrally by UM and all faculties should receive the necessary support that their researchers need. UM central should support and facilitate Open Science for all faculties but also here, it is important to keep in mind that the faculties and schools differ in terms of what is needed. The more STEM-oriented faculties will take up more storage compared to the other faculties, which comes with a cost also if we think of the external access that should be facilitated then.

When it comes to paying for open access fees to publisher, there are deals with publishers, however, this does not cover all journals. We suggest building a central fund to cover those fees too, to stimulate Open Science."