Open Science is often discussed in terms of principles: transparency, accessibility, participation and collaboration. The decisive question, however, is how these principles can be translated into research practice—particularly at a time when the conditions under which knowledge is produced, communicated and trusted are changing rapidly.
On 18 and 19 March 2027, the fifth Open Science Festival in the German-speaking world will bring this discussion to the University of Bamberg. The festival will provide a platform for researchers, early-career scholars, students, citizen scientists, and staff from libraries, infrastructure organisations and research institutions to exchange experiences and develop new perspectives on open scholarship.
The first programme elements have now been announced—and they indicate that the festival will address Open Science not as an isolated reform project, but as part of a changing scientific and political environment.
Shaping knowledge together
The festival will open with a joint keynote by René Aquarius, speaking from the perspective of a researcher and “Science Sleuth”, and myself, contributing the perspective of a research infrastructure organisation.
Our topic will be Open Science in a Changing World. We will examine the role Open Science can play in the collective production of knowledge, with particular attention to artificial intelligence, global uncertainty and the risk that scientific knowledge may lose public relevance and authority. The keynote will be followed by an open discussion with the participants.
These questions are not merely theoretical. Artificial intelligence is already transforming the production and communication of knowledge. At the same time, political, economic and ecological uncertainty is placing pressure on research institutions and on public trust in science. Under these conditions, openness cannot be reduced to providing access to publications or data. It also concerns the transparency of processes, the reliability of infrastructures and the capacity of science to remain intelligible and relevant to society.
From principles to practice
Several programme elements will focus on the practical implementation of Open Science.
A Data Challenge in the field of Music Information Retrieval will make Open Science principles tangible through collaborative work with data. Another session will examine the implementation of Open Science in Horizon Europe projects. The Bavarian Agency for Digital Affairs, byte, will contribute a hands-on workshop.
The planned “Share & Connect” mentoring programme extends the festival beyond the two days in Bamberg. Mentors and mentees will be matched to exchange ideas, experiences and challenges over the course of a year. The collaboration will begin with a workshop during the festival.
The concluding programme will turn to Citizen Science. Writer and director of the International Artists’ House Villa Concordia, Nora Gomringer, will give a keynote, followed by presentations from Citizen Science projects including the Love Letter Archive and the Bavarian Association for the Protection of Birds. A panel will discuss the possibilities, added value and limits of genuine public participation in research. For the first time in the history of the German-language Open Science Festival, this part of the programme will be open to the interested public.
The programme is still open
The announced sessions are only the beginning. The festival programme is intended to be shaped by the Open Science community itself, and the Call for Proposals is currently open.
Contributions are invited in the form of five-minute Lightning Talks, 90-minute interactive workshops, posters, tool demonstrations and project showcases. Proposals may address all areas of Open Science, with particular emphasis on three thematic fields:
- shaping knowledge together in a changing world;
- translating Open Science from knowledge into action in research and teaching;
- developing infrastructures, services and standards that make Open Science possible in practice.
The main conference language will be German, but contributions in English are explicitly welcome.
The submission deadlines are:
- 15 October 2026 for Lightning Talks and workshops;
- 15 December 2026 for posters, tool-marketplace contributions and project showcases.
Open Science cannot be developed exclusively through declarations, policies or technical infrastructures. It also requires places in which experiences can be compared, failures discussed, tools tested and new collaborations initiated. The Open Science Festival 2027 aims to provide such a place.
The programme is taking shape. It remains open—and it invites contributions.