UC holds the first General Assembly of the OPERAS consortium

The University of Coimbra held, this Monday, June 7, the first General Assembly of OPERAS, the Research Infrastructure supporting open scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in the European Research Area. UC is a member of OPERAS core group.

The General Assembly was opened by the UC Rector, Amílcar Falcão, and the Vice-Rector for Culture and Open Science, Delfim Leão. The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal, Manuel Heitor, closed the session, which received 28 invited participants, both representatives and observers from 10 countries.

At the opening of the session, Amílcar Falcão highlighted the University's commitment to promoting Open Science as a common good, having been the first university to appoint a Vice-Rector specifically focused on this subject. The Vice-Rector, Delfim Leão, is also a representative of the Western European and North American States on the UNESCO Open Science Advisory Committee.

The Rector of UC underlined that the University is "well aware of the responsibility that such a commitment represents, in terms of defining priorities, of establishing incentives and of their practical recognition in career development and in the social and economic impact of our mission and activities". Amílcar Falcão reminded as well the election of UC among the 21 universities most committed to sustainability in the world, in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2021. Open Science is, he said, one of the pillars in this regard.

The closing of the Assembly, with the speech of Minister Manuel Heitor, stressed three important pillars in Open Science: one that is focused on people, another at an institutional level, and the regulatory level. The Minister underlined the role of OPERAS at the European level as a multi-institutional initiative aimed at the social sciences and humanities, and stated that the presence of OPERAS in all institutions in Europe is "increasingly necessary".

OPERAS and UC: public presentation this June

Following the completion of the OPERAS General Assembly, the University of Coimbra released, this Monday, its first video dedicated to communicating the vision of the OPERAS infrastructure to a wider audience, both academic and non-academic. The video is available on the UC YouTube channel and is part of the OPERAS communication campaign at the University throughout the month of June.

Watch the video through the frame attached above or through this link.

Learn more about OPERAS:

- Website - presentation, projects, governance, and others;

- OPERAS Blog - news, events, and more.