Research Council of Norway together with ten other research councils*, the European commission and the European Research Council (ERC) presented an initiative for full and immediate open access to research publications they fund as of 2020. The initiative is called Plan S and the potential consequences for career and research quality have sparked a fierce debate among researchers.

Everyone agrees that open access publication is good, but how to implement it have initiated headed discussions. Plan S means that Norwegian researchers with funding from the EU and Norwegian Research council will be barred from publishing their work in journals like Nature and Science from 1 January 2020. Novel laureate Edvard Moses says that the plan will have catastrophic consequences for Norwegian science and researchers, while others are more positive. One problem is that large and active research nations such as USA, Germany and China have chosen not to be part of the plan.

The Chief Executive Officer of Research Council of Norway, John-Arne Røttingen, will visit UiB to present the initiative and participate in a debate with UiB’s researchers.

Everybody is welcome and there will be plenty of time for discussion and input from the attendants.

Time: 7 December at 10.00-12.00
Venue: Dragefjellet skole, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Auditorium 1

*France, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Norway, Polen, Slovenia, Great Britain, Sweden and Austria.

Have a nice weekend

Amra and Eystein.