Photo credits: E. Coppola
An “open” new frontier
Open Science is a new pathway towards research that seeks to extend the principle of Open Access, already established in scientific publications, to research practice, methodology and data. It represents a strategic objective of the European Union and it has been fully embraced by the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Objectives
The objectives are:
- to enhance the dissemination of scientific information on an international scale
- to reduce the rate of duplication of scientific studies
- to strengthen interdisciplinary research, the transfer of knowledge to conservation stakeholders and transparency towards citizens and citizen scientists
- to make the use of scientific contributions for educational purposes more efficient
- to guarantee the preservation of scientific production over time
- to promote the correct attribution of intellectual authorship
Advantages
Through Open Science, a wider access to those research results financed by public bodies and supported by Citizen Science is established, thus encouraging:
- new research leaning upon results already obtained, thus improving the quality of research
- collaboration and efficiency, without duplicating efforts
- innovation, because the process that brings scientific progress to the market is speeded up, accelerating growth
- the involvement of citizens and society in the scientific process, increasing transparency and participation
Who are the users of the Spot the Monk Observatory
- RESEARCHERS. Colleagues involved in the study of this or other endangered species may be inspired… give contributions to deepen data analysis, be willing to join the initiative and promote sampling in their study area.
- STAKEHOLDERS AND CONSERVATION AGENCIES. National or regional agencies involved in the conservation of this species may extrapolate informative data in order to define conservation measures aiming to provide adequate protection for such far-ranging mammals.
- CITIZEN SCIENTISTS. Those who have already taken part in the campaign may see the data they contributed to collecting published, while new volunteers may be willing to join in the study.