IUCr Workshop 012 - From Open Data to Global Open Science

Tuesday Aug 11, 2026, 8:20 AM → 5:00 PM Canada/Mountain

Calgary

Andrew Goetz (ESRF), John Helliwell (IUCr)

NOTE: this is the DRAFT PROGRAM - speakers are in the process of being confirmed

“For open science to reach its full potential, it must be an equitable global phenomenon*”

Open science is a force for good and an enabler of research, irrespective of economics or politics. It is a value for the long-term which needs to be protected from short term interests. It is by definition a global endeavour and is driven by open access, open data, open software, and open infrastructure. For open science to thrive, open assets need to be produced, managed and made available in a coordinated manner. There are large-scale initiatives now beginning to produce systems to coordinate open data, and these are invariably funded by national or regional scale organisations. There is some general coordination of these initiatives through global organisations such as CODATA, RDA, and governments, however it is also imperative to coordinate at a disciplinary level and this workshop is intended to foster these connections. This is a highly general topic applicable to all commissions generating data, software, infrastructure and publications. The IUCr has an important role to play in ensuring publications are open access and linked to FAIR data and metadata accessible through open infrastructures like open science clouds.

The workshop will address all aspects of open data including making data open at different stages of processing data from raw to results, the role of journals in making data open, and the impact of sovereignty on open science. Submissions on all of these topics are welcomed. The global aspects of open science will be emphasized with invited speakers selected to show global representativeness. Speakers will highlight the current state of open science in crystallography and how it has evolved since the last IUCr General Assembly in 2023. We are seeking talks on success stories but also challenges faced by the different IUCr communities. The overall aim of the workshop is to share solutions and practices on how to make open science the new normal globally.

*Open science outlook : status and trends around the world, UNESCO (2023),  https://doi.org/10.54677/GIIC6829

Helliwell abstract IUCr 2026 Open Science Workshop a.docx

Session 1: Open science in non-competitive research for a common good

Open science in non-competitive research for a common good

Aims: A leader in Open Science, for data depositor and re-user, is the Protein Data Bank founded in 1971 in which it was deemed that no one can have IP and patenting for example would be inappropriate. They have received public funding in a continuous manner throughout. Another well-known example from another community is the human genome where the public project shared its data immediately open.
Here the talks set the scene in various ways. The first talk by Kelly Cobey, winner of the Maddox Prize 2024, is on adopting Open Science at the Ottawa Heart Institute and reforming research assessment. The second talk by Kruna Vukmirovic is on the work by the IUCr as a leader in “open as possible”, over many decades eg starting with its Teaching Pamphlets and more recently its open dictionary and its open journal titles. The third is from the founding crystallographic database, the CSD, in Cambridge who have provided FAIR data for 60 years. Initially open but thanks to Mrs Thatcher who argued “if useful people will pay” they were sustained by subscriptions and are a charity and a not for profit.

Convener: Andrew Goetz (ESRF)

1 Opening Remarks

Speaker: Andrew Goetz (ESRF)

2 Open Science Research in Canada - TBC

Speaker: TBC (Canada)

3 IUCR as a global community facilitator for the common good

Speaker: Kruna Vukmirovic (IUCr)

4 The CSD, FAIR data for 60 years

Speaker: Suzanna Ward

10:00 AM Coffee break

Session 2: Geographic perspectives on FAIR and Open Data

Geographic perspectives on FAIR and Open Data
Aims: the goal of this session is to explore the global adoption and impact of FAIR and Open Data practices globally with reviews from multiple regions around the world. Speakers are encouraged to provide evidence of adoption and their impact in their region and what could be done to improve the adoption of OS practices or rectify them if necessary.

5 The state of Open Science in Germany and the example of Daphne4NFDI

Speaker: Bridget Murphy (DESY)

6 The state of Open Science in Japan - TBC

Speaker: Genji Kurisu

7 The state of Open Science in the UK

Speaker: Simon Coles

8 The impact of the Crystallography Open Database on Open Science - TBC

Speaker: Saulius Grazulius

12:15 PM Lunch

Session 3: Supporting industry’s solutions to global problems; better batteries, better medicines, our climate

Aims: the aims of this session are to explore how industry has profited or not from Open Science and FAIR data practices. The speakers are encouraged to highlight their talks with examples and proposals of what actions should be undertaken to improve the adoption of OS practices in industry, how to make OS more industry friendly and how industry could profit more from OS and vice versa. Obviously, competition between companies, which is a good thing for seeking the best products for consumers, does mean that private research within them will be needed. This is the so-called competitive phase of industry research.
Light sources have a great deal of experience providing industry with the best possible analytical methods to support their pre-competitive as well as their competitive phases of work.

9 The impact of Open Innovation and Open Science in industry and vice versa - TBC

Speaker: Bernd Hinrichsen

10 Title to be announced later

Speaker: Lisa Keefe

11 The challenges of industry adoption of Open Science

Speaker: Elizabeth Shotton

2:30 PM Tea

Session 4: Policy makers; UNESCO, CODATA and the International Science Council

Rising above the national concerns are the international organisations. For crystallography this is IUCr of course. But across all the sciences and wider we have the UN and its subsidiaries UNESCO and the International Science Council and its committee for data, CODATA. IUCr sends representatives to these bodies.

12 Open publications and their underpinning data and open software code

Speaker: John Helliwell

13 Global Open Science in China - TBC

Speaker: :ili Zhang

14 Global Open Research Commons (GORC) and its applications - TBC

Speaker: Charles Woodford (RDA)

15 Open Discussion

Speaker: Andrew Goetz (ESRF)