A word from the Dean

Dear Staff

Research is essentially about creating and spreading knowledge. As researchers, we are very occupied with the former - namely, discovering the inner workings of the world that surrounds us.

Scientific results are typically disseminated through participation in scientific conferences and by publishing research articles. On paper this sounds well and good, but in practice it is not a system that ensures widespread dissemination of the knowledge we are creating.

The first challenge is the availability of the research articles we publish. These are normally published by commercial publishers who require a subscription to gain access to the articles. Consequently, research articles are only available to those who have access to a library that has purchased the necessary subscription.

The second challenge is about making research data available in a systematic way, that is the data which the conclusions of the research articles are based on. In this case, what is needed is a strengthened focus on data management and administrative/technical support of systems that are easy to use and can securely make research data available.

The increased availability of research articles and research data is part of an agenda of "open science", which the research funding agencies - not least in an EU context - are engaged with. In short, it's about making the results, whose publication is financed by Danish and European taxpayers, broadly available to society. SDU is naturally affected by this agenda, and shortly the "SDU Open Science Policy" will be sent for hearing among employees across SDU. I look forward to an interesting discussion about this important topic.

Martin Zachariasen, Dean