New Episodes of Open Science Bites Are Here: Season 4 Explores the Open Research Award

Season 4 of the Open Science Bites podcast is now available. This new season takes a close look at the University of Groningen's Open Research Award, an initiative that recognises and celebrates open research practices in a non-competitive way.

About the Open Research Award

The Open Research Award uses a modified lottery system to select its recipients, ensuring that every researcher who meets the criteria has an equal chance of being recognised. Season 4 brings together the voices of the people behind the award and the researchers who have taken part in it, offering an honest look at what open research means in practice.

Episode 1: Rewarding open research, rethinking competition: The University of Groningen’s Open Research Award (Giulia Trentacosti and Maurits Masselink)

In the opening episode, Giulia Trentacosti and Maurits Masselink, two of the initiators of the Open Research Award, share the story behind the award and the thinking that shaped its design. They explain the reasoning behind the non-competitive approach and what it means for researchers to participate in an award where chance, rather than ranking, determines the outcome.

Episode 2: Open Research Award case study: A registered report (Ana Vilotijevic)

Postdoc Ana Vilotijevic joins the podcast to share her experience with open research and the registered report she submitted for the award. She reflects on how preregistration can shift the focus in science from chasing exciting results to asking better questions, and speaks openly about what it feels like when your name is not drawn in the lottery.

Episode 3: Open Research Award case study: Health experience stories database (Andrea Fokkens)

Health scientist Andrea Fokkens discusses her open research project Praten over gezondheid (Health Talk), a freely accessible database of health experience stories that she submitted for the award. She explains how making research accessible to a broad audience can help break taboos, and shares her personal experience of the award process.

Listen to all episodes of Season 4 and browse the full back catalogue of Open Science Bites: