As scientists funded by taxpayers, we’re always seeking ways to improve our work so that it can be made more accessible to others. Two key areas of focus are FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and Open Science (OS), which aims to increase transparency, collaboration, and reproducibility in research.
In the US, the National Science Foundation FAIROS Research Coordination Network program has been at the forefront of promoting open practices. As you know by now, NoCTURN is one such project. We bring together a diverse group of shareholders from academia, industry, the classroom, and beyond to advance OS principles.
What is Open Science?
Open Science refers to the practice of making research data, methods, and results openly available for others to access, use, and build upon. This approach has numerous benefits, including:
- Improved discoverability: Researchers can easily find relevant datasets due to proper indexing and metadata.
- Promoted collaboration: FAIR data enables seamless sharing and integration of data across disciplines, fostering interdisciplinary research.
- Facilitated reuse: Data that is well-documented and structured can be reused in future studies, maximizing the return on investment in data collection.
NoCTURN
Our Non-Clinical Tomography Users Research Network aims to accelerate open science practices in the domain of computed tomography (CT) by connecting CT users with an array of experiences and expertise. The Network fosters collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation across disciplines. Last week four NoCTURN delegates met at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington DC, along with nine other Research Coordination Networks (RCNs), to engage with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and Department of Energy to discuss inter-agency goals for OS.
Some key highlights from the meeting include:
- The FAIROS program has enabled scientists, researchers, industry, and the general public to increase adoption of FAIR research practices;
- RCNs have helped publishers and editors provide guidelines for enforcing data openness;
- NoCTURN and other RCNs aim to normalize OS by fostering discussions, setting standards, and cultivating communities with a focus on young professionals and emerging leaders.
The Future of Open Science
As with many topics in the last 24 months, we discussed how to move forward in the era of AI-empowered methods. FAIROS efforts will play a critical role in convening user groups, and NoCTURN will work to coordinate these goals within the CT community. We are interested in automated tools, and we’re excited about what they could mean for metadata extraction, image stack manipulations, and 3D segmentation.
We are working on our meeting report now, so stay tuned for more updates from the FAIROS Networks!