We are delighted to announce that the YAE-André Mischke Prize 2019 has been awarded to Professor Janusz Bujnicki.
Continue reading “Third edition of the annual YAE Prize awarded to Professor Janusz Bujnicki”
Press Release: Researchers respond to revised guidance for Plan S
The European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers (Eurodoc), the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA), and the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) jointly welcome the revised implementation guidance for Plan S published by cOAlition S on 31 May 2019. Revisions to the guidance are based on 600+ feedback submissions to the open consultation that represented both individual and organisational stakeholders including researchers.
Our three organisations recognised the need to revise the scholarly publishing system and chose to work constructively with cOALition S to ensure full and immediate Open Access without adversely affecting researchers. We jointly supported the principles of Plan S with critical comments for further development and subsequently submitted feedback to the implementation guidance for Plan S with comprehensive recommendations. We are pleased to see greater clarity in the revised guidance details and believe that the three routes to compliance in Plan S will provide researchers with ample options to publish their research.
The revised guidance has extended the implementation deadline by one year to 01 January 2021 and addressed our main concerns including (1) exemptions for CC BY-ND licences (in the Humanities and Social Sciences) (2) softening of the mandatory technical requirements for publications and publishing venues and repositories (3) explicit support for venues with no author-facing fees and societies and open infrastructures (4) commitment to develop clear guidelines for waivers/discounts for authors and for collaboration with non-cOAlition S researchers (5) commitment to implement a new research incentive and reward system.
Toma Susi (YAE Vice-Chair and contact for Plan S):
Our organisations spent considerable time to understand and discuss the reasons for Plan S and implementation details such as copyright and licensing and the many technical requirements. This was vital for developing informed and constructive policy recommendations, which has clearly been effective given the amendments of the guidance and the public recognition of our feedback by cOAlition S.
Véronique De Herde (Eurodoc Secretariat Coordinator and contact for Plan S):
cOAlition S has listened to the concerns of researchers and positively revised the guidance. More transparency in publishing costs/prices plus a new reward system not focused on journal impact factor will release researchers from the increasingly unaffordable prestige-driven model and enable more cost-effective and fair ways of publishing and evaluating research.
Mattias Björnmalm (MCAA Vice-Chair of WG Policy and contact for Plan S):
We hope to see more awareness-raising and communication as well as ongoing interaction with the research community leading up to the implementation of Plan S by cOAlition S. These issues have been debated for more than a decade and real change is long overdue. It is now crucial that researchers take an active and leading role in the future of Open Access.
We hereby reaffirm our support for Plan S and look forward to working closely with cOAlition S to ensure a successful implementation of Open Access for researchers.
Issues addressed: [http://eurodoc.net/eurodoc-plans-annotation-2019.pdf] (PDF 400 kb)
5th June 2019. For further information please contact Toma Susi | @mostlyphysics | chair@yacadeuro.org
Pleased to see the Young Academy of Europe reaffirm their support for #Plan_S https://t.co/08rLZT86lY
— Robert Kiley (@robertkiley) June 5, 2019
Press release: YAE officially registered as a charity
The Board of the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) met at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich on the 25th of February 2019 to officially register the YAE as a charity in Germany.
Registration as a charity establishes the official status of the YAE and enables it to start raising funds and receive donations, and to grow further as a community and a positive force for influencing scientific policy throughout Europe. The charity status also allows the YAE to register at the EU and to participate fully in future grants.
“The YAE is delighted that it can now call the LMU Munich as its official home and wants to express its gratitude for making this possible”, says Mangala Srinivas, the current chair of the YAE. “It is also welcome that space, and some funding, can be available for all members to organise events relevant to the YAE at the LMU.”
The YAE was set up in 2012 as a bottom-up, pan-European initiative of a dynamic and innovative group of recognized European early career scientists and scholars with outspoken views about science and science policy.
26th February 2019. For further information please contact info@yacadeuro.org
Press Release: Researchers Respond to Implementation of Plan S
A joint response to the implementation guidance for Plan S has today been issued by three organisations representing early-career and senior researchers in Europe. The response by the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers (Eurodoc), the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA), and the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) offers concrete recommendations on the proposed guidance for implementing Open Access via Plan S.
Our three organisations represent a broad spectrum of researchers in Europe: Eurodoc represents 100000+ doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers from 29 national associations across Europe; MCAA has 10000+ members who are alumni fellows of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA); YAE consists of 200+ outstanding and recognised researchers in Europe. We all strongly support the main goals of Open Science and Plan S.
The joint response builds upon previous recommendations by our organisations on the principles of Plan S and aims to ensure its realistic implementation from the perspective of European researchers. Eurodoc President Gareth O’Neill:
“Plan S has shaken the academic community awake and created a lively discussion on Open Access publishing. cOAlition S has addressed some key concerns from researchers in the technical guidance but still leaves other issues open and sets too strict standards for the desired broad adoption of Plan S.”
The proposals on copyright and licencing are still somewhat contentious. YAE Vice-Chair Toma Susi who coordinated the response for YAE:
“Copyright licences are complicated and often misunderstood. Plan S requires an open CC BY licence which applies only to publications and is necessary for unrestricted text-and-data mining and other desired reuses. This is why it is the right choice for publicly funded research. However, humanities and social science scholars have expressed valid concerns over misrepresentation and translations with CC BY. Our recommendation is thus to allow the option of an ND licence.”
The key to the successful implementation of Plan S lies in the research evaluation system. Mattias Björnmalm who coordinated the response for MCAA:
“A crucial factor for Plan S to succeed is that funders and institutions modernise their research and researcher assessment (e.g. for grants, hiring, and promotion) and evaluate research on its own merits instead of relying on faulty metrics. Good practices already exist from many funders and institutions. We ask institutions and especially the members of cOAlition S to not only sign but to start implementing the DORA principles in their research and researcher evaluation.”
We thank all of our members who contributed to this statement and also Bob Jones, Bianca Kramer, Raman Ganguly, Ignasi Labastida i Juan, Peter Murray-Rust, Jon Tennant, and Peter Suber for critical feedback. Any errors are attributable to Eurodoc, MCAA, and YAE.
28th January 2019. For further information please contact Gareth O’Neill | @gtoneill | +31651003175 | gareth.oneill@eurodoc.net
Former YAE Chair Nicole Grobert joins Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to EC Commissioner Moedas
In 2015, the European Commission initiated a new Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM). In SAM, a select Group of Chief Scientific Advisors coordinates evidence-based science policy for the European Commission. European Academies are included in this process through SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies) of which the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) is part through its strategic partnership with the Academia Europaea.
Today, the EC has announced that Professor Nicole Grobert, former YAE Chair, has been selected to become a member of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors who work closely together with European Commissioner Carlos Moedas. Similarly, she will now be at the receiving end for the evidence-based policy advice that the SAPEA consortium will provide to the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors and the EC. The YAE congratulates Nicole for this major achievement.
A full press release can be found here. The EC announcement can be found here.
4th May 2018. For further information please contact info@yacadeuro.org
YAE Statement on the next framework programme FP9
After the midterm evaluation of H2020 the next step towards “Maximising the Impact of EU Research and Innovation” is the preparation of the next framework programme, FP9. The YAE urges the EC to provide more funding for bottom-up blue-sky research with less administrative burden, in combination with strategies for supporting the brilliant minds of the whole European research area throughout their careers. See the YAE press release for more information.
20th January 2018. For further information please contact info@yacadeuro.org
Press release on Women in Science symposium
In celebration of the Year of Light, on 22nd May 2015, the Young Academy of Europe and SciLifeLab coorganised a one-day symposium “Pathways to Excellence: Experiences of Illuminating Science“, in order to honour the contributions of outstanding women in research and academic leadership. Please see the press release for additional information.
The video recordings of eighteen of this workshop’s sessions are available for streaming on our website, courtesy of Sveriges Utbildningsradio AB.
2nd June 2015. For further information please contact info@yacadeuro.org
YAE statement on planned changes to Horizon 2020 funding
The European Commission is planning to divert further €2.7 billion from the €28 billion Horizon 2020 budget for the years 2015–2017 (almost 10%). If these plans were to be realised, the results would be disastrous, in particular for young scientists in the short term, and for European competitiveness in Research and Innovation in the long term. The Young Academy of Europe is urging the Commission to protect the Horizon 2020 research budget, and to reinforce its commitment to fulfilling the goals of the Lisbon Treaty. See the YAE press release for more information.
3rd December 2014. For further information please contact info@yacadeuro.org
3rd Annual Meeting of the Young Academy of Europe, 2014
The third annual meeting of the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) took place in Barcelona, Spain, on 15th July. As usual, the meeting was organized in conjunction with the annual conference of the Academia Europaea (AE). Keynote speakers were Núria Sebastián Gallés, President of the scientific council of the European Research Council (ERC) and Pablo Amor, Director of the European Research Council Executive Agency. Participants also included guests from other national and international young academies. For the first time since the creation of the YAE, the full Board was elected by the members. The annual meeting also featured scientific talks presented by YAE members from all three scientific domains. See the YAE press release for more information.
30th July 2014. For further information please contact info@yacadeuro.org
2nd Annual Meeting of the Young Academy of Europe, 2013
The second annual meeting of the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) was held in Wroclaw, Poland, on 16th September. The meeting took place concurrently with the 25th annual conference of the Academia Europaea (AE), with which the YAE maintains close ties. Professor Helga Nowotny, President of the scientific council of the European Research Council (ERC), addressed YAE members and guests from funding organizations and other national young academies. She emphasized the importance of evidence-based policy for decisions concerning the grand societal challenges in health, environmental, and energy topics. Further issues discussed during the YAE meeting included opening of the YAE to outstanding non-ERC-funded scientists and scholars from 2014. See the YAE press release for more information.
Press coverage: Research Professional