Open Science is no longer a question of “if”, but of how. Policies, mandates, and frameworks are multiplying across Europe and globally. However, translating them into coherent, implementable action remains a challenge.
Whether you are drafting a national strategy, shaping funding Open Science requirements, supporting institutional change, or building monitoring frameworks, the difficulty is similar: aligning stakeholders, navigating complexity, and translating ambition into decisions that actually work in practice.
This Open Science Policy Training Programme is designed for professionals involved in Open Science (regardless of job title). You may be based in a ministry, a funding organisation, a university, a library, or a research support office. You will work on your own policy context while learning alongside peers across these different perspectives.
Built with busy professionals in mind, the programme combines a clearly structured schedule with a strong focus on practical output. By the end, you will not just have learned, but have developed a concrete, decision-ready policy output tailored to your context, ready to take forward within your work.
Applications now open until 19 April 2026, 23:59 CEST. Apply here.
Who should apply
The programme brings together up to 25 participants across four tracks, all actively working on (or planning to develop or update) an Open Science policy or a monitoring and evaluation framework within the next 12 months.
National-Level professionals
Ministries · National agencies · Policy units
You translate European and global frameworks - ERA, UNESCO, Horizon Europe - into national strategies and legislation. Your challenge: aligning multiple actors and turning high-level commitments into implementable policy without creating unfunded mandates or political resistance.
You will leave with a national Open Science policy skeleton, stakeholder map, leadership pitch, and 6-month action plan.
Institutional professionals
Universities · Research institutions · Libraries · Research offices
You work at the interface between leadership and academic practice, managing organisational change with limited authority over incentives and budgets. Your challenge: embedding Open Science into promotion criteria, research services, and institutional culture.
You will leave with a draft institutional Open Science policy, a stakeholder map, a leadership pitch, and a 6-month action plan.
Funder professionals
Research councils · Public funders · Foundations
You shape researcher behaviour through funding rules, evaluation criteria, and grant conditions. Your challenge: designing Open Science requirements that promote genuine openness without creating administrative burden or superficial compliance.
You will leave with a draft Open Science funding policy, stakeholder map, leadership pitch, and 6-month action plan.
Monitoring & impact professionals
Evaluation units · Policy observatories · Analysts Libraries · Research offices
You track whether Open Science policies actually change anything. Your challenge: designing indicators that capture real change rather than proxy metrics, and building frameworks that support adaptive governance rather than checkbox reporting.
You will leave with a draft monitoring and impact framework or indicator set, stakeholder map, leadership pitch, and 6-month action plan.
From ideas to action: your programme outputs
Every participant leaves the programme with four concrete outputs:
- Stakeholder & governance map - key actors, mandates, and relationships at global, EU, national, and institutional levels
- Policy or monitoring framework draft - a structured skeleton tailored to your track
- Leadership pitch - a ready-to-present deck for your decision-makers, grounded in your SWOT analysis
- 6-month action plan - a realistic roadmap with clear next steps and a built-in expert check-in
Structured for senior schedules, designed for real output
Pre-programme, Week of 26 May 2026
A light orientation week before the programme starts: get familiar with the OpenPlato platform, the course structure, and your fellow participants. About one hour of your time.
Sprint 1, 2–3 June 2026, 9:30 – 13:00 CEST
Two half-days covering the foundations you need to design your policy: the Open Science landscape and legal context, research assessment reform, AI and law in Open Science, and four in-depth case studies from national, institutional, funder, and monitoring contexts. By the end of Day 2, you will have started drafting your own policy structure.
Policy Development Phase, 4–20 June 2026
Two weeks of self-directed work - approximately 3–4 hours over two weeks. You complete your stakeholder map, develop your policy draft, and submit a one-page outline by the end of Sprint 2. Optional 30-minute one-to-one consultations with OpenAIRE experts are available during this period across four areas: policy design, legal aspects, implementation, and monitoring & impact.
Sprint 2, 23–24 June 2026, 9:30 – 13:00 CEST
Two half-days focused on implementation and planning: open infrastructure, change management, research security, and monitoring frameworks -followed by dedicated working time to build your leadership pitch and 6-month action plan. You leave Day 4 with a complete set of policy outputs ready to take back to your organisation.
Post-programme follow-up, October 2026 – January 2027
Three touchpoints to support you through implementation: a 60-minute group session with case study experts in October 2026 (breakout rooms by theme); an individual 30-minute session with a programme expert in November–December 2026; and a 60-minute collective reflection with the full cohort in January 2027.
Key dates at a glance
| When | What | Time commitment |
|---|
| 19 April |
Application Deadline |
|
| 11 May |
Results announced |
|
| Week of 26 May |
Pre-programme orientation - platform familiarisation (OpenPlato), course overview |
~1 hour |
| 2-3 June |
Sprint 1 - Foundations, policy landscape, case studies, policy design (9:30 - 13:00 CEST) |
2 × 3.5 hours live |
| 4-20 June |
Policy Development Phase - complete stakeholder map, develop policy draft; optional 1:1 expert consultations (30 min each) |
~2-3 hours self-directed |
| 23-24 June |
Sprint 2 - Implementation, monitoring, leadership pitch, action plan (9:30 - 13:00 CEST) |
2 × 3.5 hours live |
| October 2026 |
Group case study session - breakout rooms with case study experts to discuss progress |
60 min |
| Nov-Dec 2026 |
One-to-one implementation session - individual expert troubleshooting |
30 min |
| January 2027 |
Collective reflection - full cohort sharing outcomes and lessons |
60 min |
Selection criteria
Places are limited to a small, highly engaged cohort of approximately 25 participants to ensure meaningful interaction and individual support. The selection will be based on:
- Active relevance - you are working on or planning an Open Science policy or M&E framework within the next 12 months
- Existing Open Science knowledge - this is an intermediate-to-advanced program
- Fit with one of the four target tracks
- Ability to commit to both sprint weeks and the development phase
- We actively aim for gender balance across the cohort
- Additional weight may be given to applicants from OpenAIRE AMKE member organisations
Ready to turn your Open Science commitment into policy? Apply now!
Applications close 19 April at 23:59 CEST.
Questions? Contact tereza.szybisty@openaire.eu
