5th Oxford | Berlin Summer School: Open and Responsible Research in the Life Sciences 2022

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This programme is organised by the BIH QUEST Center for Responsible Research, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and the German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), Federal Institute of Risk Assessment (BfR), in collaboration with Reproducible Research Oxford. The programme includes lectures, interactive workshops, and social events; further details can be found on the BIH website.

If you are an early career researcher (DPhil student or postdoc) and are interested in participating in this summer school, you need to apply by 31 May 2022. The course is free to attend. Please refer to the BIH website for details on how to apply and the travel stipends available.

Transparency and reproducibility of research methods and results are hallmarks of quality in all areas, from biomedical to social and physical sciences. Many novel approaches, tools, and technologies have recently emerged that allow for a comprehensive representation of the research process that exceed descriptions of research methods and results as found in traditional journal articles.

Open research practices have the potential to revolutionise the way research methods and results are communicated, and to facilitate research collaborations and sharing of research outputs in an unprecedented manner. Adopting these practices requires knowledge and skills that are not normally taught in undergraduate or graduate degrees. This five-day summer school is therefore designed to guide early career researchers (DPhil students and postdocs) towards an open, transparent, and reproducible research workflow.

These topics will be embedded in a more general curriculum on research ethics and meta-research. This year there is a special focus on ethics of animal experiments and the 3R principles (reduce, refine, replace). Dedicated workshops are offered in this area and researchers from disciplines where animal research is relevant are particularly encouraged to apply.

PROGRAMME CONTENT

The five-day summer school will consist of a series of lectures on the following topics:

• Biases in research
• Reproducibility
• Best practices for sharing publications, data and code
• Meta-research
• Ethical research conduct, focusing on the ethics of animal research.

PLEASE NOTE

This summer school is advertised on behalf of Reproducible Research Oxford. It is not organised by the MSD Skills Training team. All enquiries must be directed to the contact information provided on the BIH website.