Open Science
Open Science in Argentina and Germany
Open Science in the Social Sciences and Humanities in Argentina and Germany: Opportunities, Challenges, and Contestations
In 2025 and 2026, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is funding the project Open Science in the Social Sciences and Humanities in Argentina and Germany: Opportunities, Challenges, and Contestations (OSSHAG). The project was proposed by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) in Mendoza, Argentina, and the Ibero-American Institute (IAI), Berlin, in close cooperation with the BCGE and the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) Objective 3: Advancing Research Quality and Value.
Open Science seeks to make both the research process and its results more accessible – within the scientific community and to society at large. The concept emphasizes the diversity of knowledge systems and practices and the need for dialogue between them. This openness requires active collaboration between different segments of society and a stronger commitment to addressing socially relevant problems. The social sciences and humanities hold a unique position among academic disciplines in this respect and pose specific challenges when it comes to open research data and citizen science due to their epistemological premises, objects of study, and methods of inquiry. Careful planning is required in these fields because providing access to research data indiscriminately can affect people's privacy or endanger subaltern communities.
The project looks at the challenges faced by individual researchers and scientific institutions in Argentina and Germany in the context of the Open Science approach from a comparative perspective. The Institute of Human and Environmental Sciences (INCIHUSA) within CONICET in Mendoza, Argentina, is an important project partner in this respect. Empirical research in Argentina is being conducted at CONICET, while in Germany this research is carried out at the universities of the Berlin University Alliance. This portion of the project is organized into three phases. First, researchers analyze and compare the legal frameworks for Open Science as well as the regulations on transparency and the handling of personal data at national and regional levels (European Union, Mercosur). Then, they document the infrastructure and repositories available for Open Science. Finally, an analysis will be conducted of the researchers’ experiences of sharing research data and research results. These researchers come from three disciplines: political science, sociology, and cultural and social anthropology.
Principal investigator (PI) of the German team is Peter Birle (IAI). PI of the Argentinian team is Fernanda Beigel (INCIHUSA/CONICET). Other members of the German project team are Barbara Göbel, Clara Ruvituso, and Carolina Santarossa, as well as Stefan Skupien and Sarah Wessel (both Berlin University Alliance).
Listen to the Meridian podcast, episode 19, “The Democratization of Knowledge – Open Science from Latin America to the World” with Professor Fernanda Beigel to learn more about Open Science:
https://www.berlin-university-alliance.de/en/media/podcasts/meridian/index.html