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Workshop

Collaborative Pathways to Responsible Research Assessment via Open Infrastructures

From Principles to Practice: Putting Responsible Research Assessment into Action.

The question is no longer why we need to reform research assessment, but how. This hands-on workshop introduces the Open Infrastructure Checklist, a practical tool developed by the CoARA WG on Open Infrastructures for RRA. Together, we will test its application on real-world services like OpenAIRE’s Researcher Profile, GraspOS Horizon Europe Project, and IOI’s Infra Finder. Join us to co-evaluate, co-create, and shape the future of research assessment, open, ethical, and built to last.

Reforming research assessment has shifted from asking why to focusing on how. The proposed collaborative workshop addresses that challenge, specifically, how to turn CoARA policy principles into practice using infrastructures that are open, ethical, inclusive, and sustainable, by introducing and testing the Open Infrastructure Checklist, developed by the CoARA Working Group on Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment (OI4RRA). The checklist provides actionable guidance across four key dimensions: technical strength, operational excellence, community-led governance, sustainability, ethical and accountable practices.
The workshop aims to empower institutions and infrastructure providers to operationalize responsible research assessment (RRA) using a practical, principle-based checklist, while exploring how existing tools can support this transition. Participants will apply the checklist to three real-world infrastructures: OpenAIRE’s Researcher Profile, a service for showcasing diverse research contributions, beyond traditional-publications model; the GraspOS catalogue of open data, tools, services, and templates for Open-Science-aware RRA, which utilises a metadata schema that complies with a draft specification developed by OI4RRA WG; and testing the ability to gather information from the checklist for Infra Finder from IOI, a catalogue of informational entries about open infrastructure tools and services, and provide feedback.
Working in small groups, participants will evaluate each of these infrastructures against the checklist in a participatory format, test the tool’s usability and adaptability, identify gaps, strengths, and opportunities. This hands-on format encourages collaboration and critical reflection. Expected outcomes include a community-refined checklist, practical insights into infrastructure readiness, and a collaborative roadmap for broader institutional adoption and cross-organizational alignment in support of RRA.

Details

  • DATE:
    16 September 2025
  • ROOM:
    82/1-001 Science Gateway Lab B

Organisers

Speakers

Angeliki Tzouganatou

OpenAIRE, CoARA OI4RRA WG

Giulia Malaguarnera

OpenAIRE, GraspOS

Sarah Lippincott

Invest in Open Infrastructure

Zenia Xenou

OpenAIRE

Short Bios

Angeliki Tzouganatou

Dr. Angeliki Tzouganatou is a Research Project Manager and Open Infrastructure Specialist at OpenAIRE AMKE, where she leverages equitable practices to champion open scholarship and enhance the reform of research assessment, coordinating the efforts of the CoARA WG ‘’Towards Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment’’. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the OPERAS Research Infrastructure and an external expert evaluator for the European Commission. Her professional experience spans teaching, contributing to prestigious research projects, and working with cultural heritage institutions. Angeliki earned her PhD from the University of Hamburg as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, focusing on "Openness and Fairness in the Digital Ecosystem: Addressing the Participation Gap in Cultural Knowledge Production." She also holds an MSc in Digital Heritage from the University of York.

Giulia Malaguarnera

Giulia Malaguarnera is a researcher with a PhD in Neuropharmacology, serving as Outreach and Engagement Officer at OpenAIRE. In her role at OpenAIRE, she focuses on fostering stakeholder engagement and promoting Open Science practices, with particular attention to research assessment. She is actively involved in European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) initiatives and contributes to projects such as GraspOS, where she works on dataspace architecture and user engagement strategies. Giulia is also a member of the CoARA Working Group Towards Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment, dedicated to developing sustainable e-infrastructure policies. A former President of Eurodoc and member of the Marie Curie Alumni Association, she is committed to advancing transparent and inclusive research evaluation systems across Europe.

Sarah Lippincott

Sarah Lippincott is a librarian and researcher with over a decade of experience supporting open access, digital scholarship, and scholarly communications. Sarah started her career as the founding Program Director for the Library Publishing Coalition and has consulted on projects for the Educopia Institute, Candid, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and Dryad, among organizations. In addition to her role as Senior Researcher at IOI, she is a Principal Investigator on the Next Generation Library Publishing (NGLP) project.

Zenia Xenou

Zenia Xenou is an Engagement and Training Officer at OpenAIRE AMKE. She holds an MSc in Biomedical Engineering and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Cyprus University of Technology. With extensive experience as a researcher in multiple R&D projects, Zenia has driven product design and manufacture, and championed organizational development in several positions. Currently, she serves as the Service Manager for the OpenAIRE Researcher Profile, an innovative tool designed to empower researchers to showcase their contributions beyond publications and promote responsible research assessment.

    Agenda

    14:00–14:20 (20 min) — Welcome & Framing

    • Introduction to the workshop goals and collaborative format
    • Why infrastructure is central to operationalizing RRA principles 
    •  Presenting the CoARA OI4RRA WG and 
    • Introduction to the Open Infrastructure Checklist: Evaluating Open Infrastructures
    • Four dimensions: technical strength, operational excellence, community-led governance, ethical dimension 
    • Role of the checklist in guiding adoption
    • Setting expectations: from shared values to shared implementation tools

    14:20–14:30 (10 min) —OpenAIRE MyResearchFolio

    14:30–14:40 (10 min) — GraspOS Catalogue

    14:40–14:50 (10 min) — IOI Infra Finder

    15:50 - 15:05 (15 min) Q&A 

    15:05 - 15:10 (5 min) Choose/Find your Breakout Lab

    15:10 - 15:30 (20 min) Introductions among the participants and setting the scene

    15:30-16:15 Coffee Break

    16:15–17:00 (45 min) — Breakout Labs: Hands-On Checklist Testing

    17:00–17:25 (25 min) — Synthesis: Cross-Tool Insights & Checklist Refinement

    • Group reporting and discussion

    17:25–17:40 (15 min) — From Alignment to Adoption: Collective Strategy Session & Commitments

    17:40–17:45 (5 min) — Closing