Radboud Open Science Inspirator: Hubert Korzilius

Hubert opens the conversation with a disarming honesty: 'I am probably not the most obvious person when it comes to Open Science.' But those who ask further questions will quickly discover the opposite. From his business administration group, Hubert works on intervention-oriented research in which feedback loops and systems thinking are central, not linear deductions, but research that adapts to the dynamics of reality. In practice, for example, he collaborates with residents, neighbourhood professionals, and other stakeholders on a project with the Municipality of Nijmegen. In essence, this is exactly what you would call Citizen Science: citizens and professionals who are not merely the subject of research, but who actively contribute ideas and participate in order to arrive at solutions together.

Open access has become second nature to Hubert: he was once an ambassador for it himself. 'I'm not going to man the barricades for that anymore, it's largely been sorted.' Yet he also keeps an eye on the challenges that remain. Double dipping (whereby institutions pay both for access to journals and for open access publishing) still demands attention. The same applies to the high Article Processing Charges once the annual budget runs out, the stream of emails from predatory journals, and the occasionally strikingly brief reviews he comes across. Cause for concern, but also for nuance: Open Science is not a finished story, even if the landscape is in considerably better shape than it was ten years ago.

Despite retiring next year, Hubert points with a smile to his colleagues when it comes to the future of Open Science within the faculty. The fact that he does not consider himself an 'Open Science minded' person is precisely what makes his story valuable: it shows that Open Science is not reserved for those who embrace the label, but is already very much alive in everyday research practice, sometimes without you even calling it that. Colleagues who would like to discuss this, to exchange experiences, are warmly welcome at the bimonthly OSCN drinks. The next one is on Thursday 26 March at 16:30 in the Cultuurcafé.

Are you a researcher yourself and would you like to know more about citizen science or get help setting up a citizen science project? Get in touch with the Radboud University Citizen Science Expertise Centre.