- Bethan
Co-organised by OLS and the DRA, the OSPARK Bootcamp aims to support open research ambassadors to create visibility for their open research initiatives through outreach and marketing. It consists of a 6-week online course and a two-day in-person workshop. The online part of the course is delivered through informative emails, check-ins with a buddy, and hour-long interactive cohort sessions. The in-person workshop is an unconference style event, which provides space to connect and collaborate with other attendees. Applications will open soon for our third OSPARK Bootcamp, with online-only options and an in-person workshop in Zurich, Switzerland. Participation is free of charge.
We want community input to guide the content and delivery of the training. We want to make sure we hear the voices of people who do not take part in the Bootcamp, as well as those who do. You can contribute by participating in an OSPARK Online Workshop or by completing our survey.
If you are unable to attend a full OSPARK Bootcamp, please consider joining an OSPARK Online workshop! No prior communication or marketing experience needed. Just bring your curiosity and commitment to supporting open and FAIR research. Sign-ups are now open for workshops on Wednesday 5th August and Monday 24th August 2026.
The OSPARK Online workshop will start with a ~1 hour training session on digital outreach, marketing, and communications for open research advocates. This will involve learning about key concepts and how you can apply them to your own open research initiative.
Whether you’re involved in a library, IT service, data management team, research support office, or run your own local open research initiative, this workshop will help you:
This online workshop also forms part of the OSPARK research programme. We are using the information we gather to inform the development of the OSPARK Bootcamp training programme. Please read the participant information sheet for this study before registering. It will provide you with more information about how and why the research is being conducted, including data sharing policies. The full study protocol, materials, and data management plan are available on Zenodo.
The second half of the workshop therefore involves ~1 hour discussion groups. You will be randomly placed into breakout rooms with 1-9 other participants and a facilitator. We will provide you with a notes template to help to guide your discussion. We hope to collect qualitative data about:
While data collection is an important part of the discussion group, we also hope that it will provide you with a space to connect with peers, exchange ideas, and learn from each other.
Yes! If you are not able to join either workshop, please consider completing our survey so that we can understand your needs. It should take no more than 15-20 minutes. You will be asked about your experience of conducting outreach activities for open research initiatives; what prevents you from doing these outreach activities; and what training you need in this area. Responses to the survey are anonymous.
The OSPARK Bootcamp is developed through a collaboration between the Digital Research Academy and OLS. It is supported by the OSCARS consortium to strengthen open science capacity across Europe.
OSCARS is a four-year EU-funded project that strives to foster the uptake of Open Science in Europe by consolidating the achievements of world-class European research infrastructures in the ESFRI roadmap and beyond into lasting interdisciplinary FAIR data services and working practices. The project aims to strengthen the role of the Science Clusters in the ERA by developing domain-based Competence Centres and by fostering the implementation of Open Science projects funded through a cascading grant mechanism.