Vilnius University announces the nominations for the 2025 Award for Distinguished Contribution to Open Science. The annual awards are instrumental in recognising and encouraging those who actively contribute to the development of open science, the implementation of its principles, and the promotion of a culture of openness at our University.
Open science is a concept that brings together scholarly activities and practices aimed at making scientific knowledge open, accessible, and usable by all. It is a fundamental change in the scientific process contributing to greater transparency and openness in science. Open science not only creates the premises for faster scientific progress and deeper interdisciplinary collaboration but also contributes to addressing societal challenges and sustainable development goals.
We invite all academic and non-academic staff, doctoral students, and research teams of the University to nominate themselves or colleagues who have made a distinguished contribution to open science at the University during the academic year 2024–2025 (1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025).
This year, a competent jury will evaluate the applications in three categories:
1. Openness in scholarly activities
Researchers and research teams that practice openness and transparency in the research process – they openly share research datasets, research methodologies, software code, and publish their research output on open access platforms, repositories, and journals – are awarded in this category. The winners of this nomination, in addition to sharing their research results, actively promote a culture of transparency and openness within the University community. The evaluation takes into account the open science practices used by the nominees or group of nominees, the consistency of the use of these practices, and the activities related to the promotion of open science.
2. Engagement of the public in the research process
This category awards for the engagement of the public in the research process: data collection and analysis, science communication activities, or citizen science projects. The focus is given to the activities that have increased public perception of and confidence in science, ensuring openness and accessibility of research, as well as ethical public engagement. The evaluation takes into account the number and diversity of the participants involved as well as the level of their involvement, the significance of their contribution to the research output, the openness of the research (availability of open data, methodology and output), the impact of the citizen science initiatives on scientific literacy of society, public policy or social and environmental progress, and the effectiveness of the dissemination and communication in the effort to engage the public.
3. The impact of open science
This category awards research and projects that stand out for scientific innovation, significant impact on society, implementation of the principles of open science, and increasing access to scientific knowledge. The award is given for both open study resources that have a wide outreach and that enable the introduction of new teaching methods and projects that have been carried out by open science principles and have influenced legislation and policy-making, led to new initiatives, start-ups, the creation of new jobs or new products, or have attracted significant interest and coverage in the national or international media. The evaluation considers whether the project has been carried out using open science principles as well as its innovative character and scholarly, societal, political, or economic impact.
Applications have to be submitted by 28 September 2025
Applications are to be submitted using the following form.
When applying, please provide a detailed description of the nominee's or team's contribution, together with supporting material (references, publications, reviews).
The winners will be announced during the International Open Access Week (20–26 October) and will be awarded with commemorative and monetary prizes.
For more information on the evaluation criteria and the conditions of the competition, click here (information available only in Lithuanian).
Organisers of the competition
The establishment of the annual award for distinguished contribution to open science is one of the activities outlined in Vilnius University's Open Science Policy Guidelines Implementation Plan for 2023-2028. The competition is organised by:
- Vilnius University Library
- The Science and Innovation Department of Central Administration
- The Communication and Marketing Department
Contacts:
If you have any questions, please contact: Inga Banytė ()
Let's promote open science together – your contribution is valuable and significant for the University community.
2025-09-09