Arqus Open Science Award 2025/2026

This call is open to early-career researchers (PhD students or early postdocs) from Arqus member universities who have extensively applied open science practices in their research, participated in a citizen science project, or developed open-source tools or software. Applicants must have made a significant and substantive contribution to the research project as one of the equal contributors.

The participants need to describe in a form of about 600 words, and in the following order, three topics:

• The innovation and Open Science contribution
• Their accessibility, reusability, and border benefits
• Their personal initiative and involvement, as well as the challenges they had to overcome.

To apply for this award, early postdocs and PhD students will have to submit their project in one of the three categories available:

1. Original peer-reviewed research with elaborate Open-Science practices (for reproducibility and transparency).
   1. Example 1: You preregistered your study with a peer-review (registered report), used open-source software, or made your data and materials, including relevant metadata, openly (FAIR) available on a repository
   2. Example 2: You conducted and coordinated a study across multiple labs and ensured that all labs followed standardized procedures in data collection. Later, you made your data and materials openly (FAIR) accessible.
2. Development of open software, hardware, or infrastructure.
   1. Example 1: You developed a statistical software (e.g., a package in the statistics software R) to make certain complex analyses or data processing much easier. You made it available on a code repository (e.g., on GitHub).
   2. Example 2: You developed a tool to integrate and standardize several data formats in your field, and you made it openly accessible.
3. A citizen-science research project with high involvement of the target group and a reusable output.
   1. Example 1: You conducted a project within a high school class, where you investigated whether pupils learn faster with a new tool. You collaborated with the teachers to develop the tool, drawing from their practical experience.
   2. Example 2: You reached out to a subgroup in the society to investigate their recycling behavior. You involved the stakeholders in regular group meetings, and they helped you make the results understandable to your peers.

To receive the award upon selection, each winner will have to give a presentation and discussion as part of an online webinar series, since their contribution to open science and their experiences during implementation may be valuable and a motivating example for other Arqus researchers.

Per category, Arqus will award €400 for private use.