CONFERENCELatvia is developing open science practices by creating both a national strategic framework and practical solutions for researchers. At the national level, activities are being coordinated to integrate into the European open science ecosystem, while developing local infrastructure and support systems.
Latvia is actively moving towards achieving its open science goals, recognizing its significant role in the development of national research and the promotion of innovation. The "Latvian Open Science Strategy 2021-2027" sets out the country's commitment to implementing open science principles and practices. The strategy is based on three main pillars: open access to scientific publications, FAIR research data, and citizen science.
The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) provides unified access to research data, services, and tools across Europe, promoting interdisciplinary research and data reuse. Latvia is actively involved in this initiative to create a modern and secure digital research infrastructure that is fully integrated with the EOSC. This cooperation broadens Latvian researchers' access to European resources and fosters international collaboration.
The research data repository DataverseLV, created in Latvia, serves as a central hub for the sharing and long-term preservation of research data. The repository was created to promote an open data culture and opportunities for data reuse. Researchers have access to data steward support for depositing data, and the data sets placed in the repository form university data set collections.
Latvia has a growing network of data stewards who provide researchers with the necessary support in implementing data management and open science principles. More universities and research institutions are actively involved in the development of open science, creating open science policies at the institutional level and implementing the appropriate infrastructure.
UL is actively developing open science practices by implementing an "Open Science Policy" that supports four priority areas: open publications, open research data, open-source software, and citizen science. These areas are highlighted in blue in the image, together with other areas of open science shown for context.
- In the field of open publications, UL provides the DSpace institutional repository for storing publications and publishes several journals with diamond open access – free of charge for both authors and readers.
- In the field of research data, UL researchers have access to a specialized DataverseLV collection with the support of data stewards.
- In the field of open-source software, UL encourages the publication of software and analysis scripts.
- In the field of citizen science, UL supports researchers' collaboration with the wider public.
The infrastructure and support system offered by UL allow the University's scientists to actively engage in the global scientific community, promoting new discoveries, innovations, and knowledge creation.