Open Science Forum 1- NMIMS (OSF-1)
Launch of the Open Science Forum-1 of ERASMUS + Open Asia Project took place on the 21st and 22nd of March 2024, in the premises of SVKM’s NMIMS Deemed-to-be-University. The forum gathered over 100 + participants from the host university, other HEIs in the city, and the project partners.
The forum aimed to boost engagements in higher education institutes in Open Science in India and Malaysia, in collaboration with leading universities from Asia and Europe.
The partner universities for the Open Asia ERASMUS Project included Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (India); Tampere University -TAU (Finland); VU University of Amsterdam (Netherlands); University of Malaya; University of Malaysia Sabah & University of Malaysia Sarawak – all the three from Malaysia; International School for Social and Business Studies and European Policy Development & Research Institute both from Slovenia.
The forum began with the warm welcome address by Dr. Sharad Mhaiskar, Pro-Vice Chancellor of NMIMS. Following this Dr. Ramesh Bhat, Vice Chancellor of NMIMS, spoke about the vision of NMIMS in the field of Open Science, in his speech, he said the importance of open science for researchers, the challenges the researchers face currently, and how NMIMS is completely dedicated to adopting the OSF framework and promoting a culture of open science and innovation. The inauguration of the Open Asia Logo and website by our chief guest Dr. Man Mohan Sharma, Emeritus Professor of Eminence- ICT. Dr.Olesea Sirbu, Founder & President – EDPRI, and also the co-ordinator of the project addressed the participants about the overall aim and objectives of the Open Asia Project.
The two-day forum saw participants take part in discussions on various aspects of Open Science, including the Open Science experience across various countries (shared by the various project partners), national policy development, community engagement, the significance of artificial intelligence in Open Science, commercial and open-source software, data-sharing, and open-access publishing.
The eminent speakers at the forum included keynote speaker Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Sr. Advisor, (DST) and Former Secretary (SERB), who in his speech emphasized the importance of adopting an open science policy to create a vibrant environment through a vision for India’s Science, Technology and Innovation. The interactive workshops were conducted by Dr. M Sasikumar, ED- CDAC Mumbai spoke on Open-source software, Speakers from the host university Prof. Sunil Shirvaikar, Program Director (Statistics) and assistant professor – NMIMS (SOMASA) also with Prof.Mahesh Mali, Assistant Professor – NMIMS (MPST) on the topic- a journey from commercial to open source software, followed by the industry speaker Mr. Vilap Baxi, Senior VP, and CPO- Kimbus conducted on open-access publishing.
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