The topic

What is the background of this conference?

Open Science refers to a broad, transdisciplinary movement aiming to open up research processes to promote the integrity, reproducibility, and value of scholarly work. Responding to pressing credibility and replicability problems in science, this movement has thoroughly changed the fields of psychology and economy. Clearly, a similar fundamental rearrangement is coming in all social sciences, including political science, sociology, and communication. This interdisciplinary conference brings together a mix of leading senior and junior scholars to present and discuss state of the art and future directions for open science practices in the social sciences.

What is this conference for?

The conference has four purposes. First, it offers a forum for exchange and networking for researchers from all social science disciplines and working with all methodologies (quantitative and qualitative) who are interested in promoting open science practices. Second, it strengthens skills and knowledge regarding open science practices. Hence, the conference is associated with a workshop organized in collaboration with the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS).  Third, the conference features original research and showcases best practices in open science. Fourth, the conference will facilitate (by granting free data collection for winners of the pre-registration challenge as one conference component) and produce original research (by initiating a crowdsourced replication effort of a well-known social science study).

Participation

Participation as a guest

You do not need to give a talk to participate at the conference. Everybody is welcome to join, regardless of whether you are an Open Science expert or whether you have recently heard about it for the first time.

Costs of Participation

As an Open Science conference, participation is free of any fees.  Note, however, that we intend to live stream the entire conference.

Workshop

The conference will be followed by an Open Science Workshop on Sunday, 27 January 2019. The workshop will be conducted in collaboration with BITSS. You can find more information on the workshop here.

Second Screen

What is the conference hashtag?

Great question. It is #ossc19.

Will there be a live stream?

Yes!

Location

How to get to Mannheim

The conference will take place in Mannheim, Germany.

As one of Germany’s central railway nodes, Mannheim is easy to reach by train. Given its proximity to Frankfurt am Main, Mannheim is also easy to reach by plane.

Surrounded by the Neckar and Rhine rivers, Mannheim is a beautiful city to visit. Many tourists also visit the neighboring city of Heidelberg, 15 minutes away by train.

How to get around in Mannheim

Unique in Germany, Mannheim city center is partitioned into Quadrants. Addresses (e.g., A5 6) are alphanumeric, indicating Quadrants (e.g., A5) and houses in each Quadrant (e.g., 6). Mannheim city center is small enough to walk most places. Use Google Maps for schedules of public transportation. If you want to use trams and buses, use VRN eTarif app (iTunes, Android) for easy ticketing. Use DB navigator app (iTunes, Android) for long-distance train tickets.

Where exactly

The conference will take place in the university’s main building, Mannheim palace. The room is “O138 Fuchs Petroclub” in the Eastern part of the building. It is location 1 on the University Map.