Dear colleagues,
We invite you to join the discussion about the processes, effects, and boundary conditions of openness and collaboration in scientific research at the upcoming 7th OIS Research Conference (May 11-13, 2026 at Copenhagen Business School).
We welcome submissions related to:
Track 1: Open and collaborative approaches along the entire scientific research process, including opportunities, challenges, and contingency factors (e.g., university-industry collaborations, transdisciplinary research approaches, crowd and citizen science, open data sharing/reusing).
Track 2: Ecosystems and organizational designs facilitating or constraining open and collaborative research approaches including, for example, institutional, regulatory or IP-related factors.
Track 3: Micro-foundations of open and collaborative research approaches including, for example, scientists' capabilities, motivations or career paths.
Highlights 2026:
This year's special conference theme is:
Science-Policy Relations: What is the Role of Openness and Collaboration?
Science-based input into policy decisions is more crucial than ever to address complex global challenges such as climate change, digital transformation, and geopolitical instability. Existing channels such as scientific services in national parliaments, one-way consultations, or ad hoc advisory roles help, but they often fall short of providing scientific expertise in ways that are timely, transparent, and attuned to broader societal contexts. Rising mistrust in science adds to the strain. Yet the relationship is not one-way: while science informs policy, policy priorities, incentives, and rules also shape what gets researched, how quickly results are produced, and how evidence is framed. Openness and collaboration offer promising avenues to reimagine these relationships. Open access to publications, data, and methods can enable broader reuse and engagement, while AI tools may enhance scalability and integration into policy processes. Beyond access, sustained co-development of policies between scientists and policymakers – and at times, with citizens or other stakeholders – may strengthen the relevance, transparency, and legitimacy of outcomes. Yet these models also raise questions about credibility, responsibility, and alignment with democratic processes. Hence, this year's theme explores science-policy interactions as a two-way, evolving relationship, asking how openness and collaboration can both enable and complicate the pursuit of evidence that is usable, trustworthy, and aligned with democratic values.
The conference program features multiple formats and inspiring speakers and panelists who will help us deep dive into this special theme, including Ben Jones (Northwestern University), Brandi Geurkink (Coalition for Independent Tech Research), Dietmar Harhoff (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition), Peter Møllgaard (Copenhagen Business School), and Reinhilde Veugelers (KU Leuven).
Continuing the discussion on the future of university-industry collaboration from the 2025 conference, we are happy to announce a follow-up panel on how, and under what conditions, open university-industry collaboration models support corporate innovation and the creation of deep-tech start-ups, featuring speakers such as Mikkel Bülow Skovborg (Novo Nordisk Foundation), Karina Fog (H. Lundbeck A/S), Markus Koester (Boehringer Ingelheim, opnMe), and Ammon Salter (Warwick Business School).
In addition to inspirational Keynotes, Panel Debates and Paper Sessions, the conference program includes a Junior Paper Development Workshop (scheduled for May 13 in the afternoon), and as usual an OIS Experiment where we "walk the talk" by engaging in and reflecting on novel ways of doing research. More information on this will be shared together with the conference program in February.
Join us in Copenhagen, share and discuss your ongoing research, and become part of the next OIS Experiment! We look forward to receiving your submissions.
With best wishes for 2026,
The organizing team
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Henry Sauermann
ESMT - European School of Management and Technology - Berlin
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