When I signed up for the Open Science Retreat, I was fairly nervous. The unconference model was new to me… plus, I’m definitely the type of person who prefers structure and pre-planning! The schedule left me with more questions than expectations: What would I be doing? Would I fit in? Would they force me to go hiking?!
However, all of those worries dissipated the moment my train rounded a corner and revealed a snow-capped mountain emerging across a vast lake. The location for OSR25CH was breathtaking and unlike anywhere I’d been before. So beautiful that I accidentally got a bus in the wrong direction and added two hours (and a lovely lake view) to my trip. And yes, there were opportunities to go hiking! But as I quickly discovered, these were entirely optional.
The Open Science Retreat follows an unconference format, meaning that attendees themselves choose the contents of the sessions. For this reason, it’s unclear exactly what you might be doing until you arrive. The topics you focus on are entirely dependent on the people who attend.
And what amazing people attended! The retreat brought together a wonderful mixture of people from diverse professional backgrounds, academic disciplines, career stages, nationalities, and life experiences. Throughout the week, I had fascinating conversations on all sorts of topics, including positivity journaling, life in Alaska, competitive synchronised ice skating, the process of buying a house (or land) in multiple African countries, and flamenco guitar. I even got some good anime recommendations!
Of course, we talked extensively about open science too. Throughout the week, I participated in engaging discussion groups, insightful short sessions, and practical workshops. On top of that, excellent conversations happened in more casual settings: on walks, over meals, and while hanging out in the evenings.
Unconference Sessions
A key aspect of the unconference was collaborative work in topic groups. Attendees proposed potential topics, and we self-organised into groups based on our shared interests. I proposed a topic myself and was delighted when others showed interest! I’m really interested in how people share and engage with open science initiatives - a line of thought we’re developing with the Digital Research Academy as part of the OSPARK Bootcamp project - so my proposal was around marketing and communications. The group quickly came to the agreement that “marketing” is a word which a lot of scientists don’t really like. Given that, we developed a primer on outreach for open science initiatives. You can find that alongside a whole load of amazing conference outputs on the OSR25CH’s ResearchEquals collection. Shoutout to my excellent group mates, Doaa Abdelkader, Anastasia Afanaseva, José Francisco Pereira Cardoso, Jens Dierkes, Christian Meesters, and Heidi Seibold. You were all a pleasure to work with and I hope we can keep collaborating in the future!
One discussion group which stood out to me was organised around the concept of creativity. What does creativity actually mean in open research, where a big part of our job is following procedures? Through the discussion, I came to realise that creativity is sometimes assumed to mean breaking the rules. However, working within constraints, such as funding, rules, or structures, may actually promote creativity in some situations. Finding new ways to do things within and beyond academic systems is a core part of the open science movement. One working group which exemplified this to me is a topic group focused on the intersection of open science and activism, whose outputs included an online community space and a zine. I found the supportive, flexible, and communal environment of OSR25CH to be particularly beneficial to our creativity overall. So much learning and idea generation happened in the flexible time: over coffee breaks, meals, and into the evenings.
Adventures in the Mountains
Finally, I was lucky enough to meet and spend time with wonderful OLS community members at the Open Science Retreat - Doaa Abdelkader and Nyasita Ondari. Doaa and I had worked together online throughout her fellowship, so it was lovely to finally meet in-person. We all made time to go on trips in the local area together. Remember that wrong bus I took at the start? At that time, I found myself in a beautiful area which had lovely views of one of Interlaken’s lakes, so we all went there together! We also went to Lauterbrunen, an adorable village in a valley dotted with waterfalls. We shared stories of our home countries and travels; laughed together; and even swapped coins! My new coin collection starts with an Egyptian pound and a Kenyan shilling.
My experience at the Open Science Retreat was overwhelmingly positive. It was a genuinely accepting and inclusive space where I discussed what I care about and made some wonderful friends. I can’t wait for OSR26UK!