24/09/2025
A new international collaboration, the Global Research Initiative on Open Science (GRIOS), is being officially announced today to provide comprehensive synthesis and evidence-based recommendations for advancing open science practices globally for the benefit of society and research itself. Supported by the French National Open Science Fund, and hosted at the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg, GRIOS currently brings together key partners, including the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Committee for Open Science (Ouvrir la Science).
GRIOS emerges at a crucial time when research funders and institutions worldwide are seeking effective ways to implement open science policies. The initiative will use meta-research methods to address the need for robust evidence about what interventions in research culture and practices actually work. Responding to the G7 Science and Technology Ministers’ call from May 2023, GRIOS aims to leverage existing scientific research findings to inform and enhance open science policies globally.
Chaired by Marin Dacos, National Coordinator for Open Science, French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and co-chaired by Henriikka Mustajoki, Secretary General for Open Science in Finland, and Hans de Jonge, Director of Open Science NL at NWO in the Netherlands, GRIOS will bring together international experts and organisations to advance three core objectives: delivering state-of-the-art analysis of open science research; identifying critical knowledge gaps and promoting new research; fostering international coordination along with knowledge sharing in open science research.
“NWO is proud to participate in GRIOS. As a funder who actively supports Open Science, it is crucial that we understand how to maximise the impact of our funded research,” explains Hans de Jonge. “As open science becomes mainstream, firmly embedded in policies, and expected in practice, it is more important than ever to understand what works and what doesn’t and thus base our actions on solid evidence. GRIOS can contribute valuable knowledge and evidence about Open Science policies to decision-makers, which will ultimately strengthen the global research ecosystem.”
Over the next four years, GRIOS will produce comprehensive reviews and evidence-based recommendations and propose a research roadmap on Open Science to fill knowledge gaps. This output will advance understanding, enhance practices, inform policies, guide further research, and strengthen collaboration in open science. All findings will be published in open access format, ensuring widespread accessibility and impact.
“Open Science has widespread support in principle, but making it work in practice requires understanding of what helps and what hinders researchers in sharing their work more openly”, says Marc Schiltz, GRIOS ambassador. “GRIOS will help us understand where communities are on the path to Open Science, what encourages change, and what is holding them back”.
The initiative welcomes partnerships with research organisations, funding bodies, and other stakeholders committed to advancing open science. For more information, please visit grios.org or contact Nóra Papp-Le Roy, GRIOS Coordinator at npappleroy@esf.org.
GRIOS acknowledges that language diversity is important for advancing global open science. From the start, we will take into account research publications in various languages, and we will also ensure our resources are accessible in multiple languages. In line with our commitment to multilingualism, this press release is available in French. Additional languages will be added as new partners join the initiative.
The Global Research Initiative on Open Science (GRIOS) is a new initiative that aims to advance Open Science practices and policies by reviewing and synthesizing existing evidence about Open Science and identifying obstacles to its widespread uptake. GRIOS will enable funders, research organisations, and policymakers to optimise their Open Science strategies for maximum impact and effectiveness. In addition, GRIOS aims to identify knowledge gaps and federate the global research-on-Open Science communities around a common research agenda. GRIOS emerged from G7 work on Research on Research and Open Science.
