Cyprus

Cyprus

Overview

European Commission

EOSC Steering Board representatives

The first National Policy for Open Access in Cyprus was approved in February 2016 by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus.  It has been revised to fulfil all the new Open Science requirements as “National Policy of the Republic of Cyprus for Open Science Practices” published in May 2022.  Under the umbrella and coordination of the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, the National Open Science Cloud Initiative (NOSCI) worked closely to revise it for public consultation with the local research stakeholders.

With the establishment of a NOSCI, the adoption of the National Policy for Open Science Practices, the development of a comprehensive Action Plan for its implementation and the development of synergies with other national initiatives, such as that for Open Access to Research Infrastructures and digital reform, Cyprus aspires to be in position to achieve the goal of establishing Open Science by 2026.

National Initiative for Open Science

To harmonise with EU requirements and benefit from OS, Cyprus proceeded with the launch of the National Initiative for Open Science in 2021. Its main objective is to provide researchers and the public in Cyprus with access to peer-reviewed scientific publications, reliable research data, scientific services and infrastructure in an open and unbiased manner at the earliest possible stage in the dissemination process and to ensure the possibility of their use and reuse. It includes actions such as:

  • Establishment of an Ad Hoc Advisory Group on OS (NOSCI)
  • Revision of the National Open Access Policy and adoption of an OS Policy
  • Develop an Action Plan for the implementation of the National OS Policy
  • Establishment of the Cyprus OS Cloud
  • Interface with the European OS Ecosystem – EOSC
  • Strengthening digital services / competences for research

The Initiative for OS is coordinated and implemented by the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy in cooperation with the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on OS, a collaborative bottom-up initiative consisting of ten national academic & research organisations/infrastructures, the national research funding organisation and six OS initiatives. The Cyprus OS Initiative aims to support the development and inclusion of the NOSCI in the EOSC Governance.

Experts from the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute participate in the project National Initiatives for Open Science in Europe (NI4OS-Europe) that aims to be a core contributor to the EOSC service portfolio and commit to EOSC Governance, aligned with the European policies.

Policies

In February 2016, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus approved the National policy for Open Access in Cyprus, providing guidelines and support for the implementation of Open Access for research outputs, which are funded locally by both public and private resources aligned with the European policies and based on the established infrastructure at European level.  In May 2022, the new “National Policy of the Republic of Cyprus for Open Science Practices” was published, focusing on areas: Open Access to scientific publications, Open/FAIR Research Data under the principle of “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”, the use of infrastructures, tools and services with Open Access terms, and encouragement of the adoption of related Open Science practices, actions on awareness-raising, skills, training and support.

Going beyond the concept of “openness” in access to scientific information, this policy goes through all the stages and results of the research process and also refers to the management of research data and their reuse, the appropriate digital tools and the corresponding supporting infrastructure.

The main goal of this policy is to provide researchers and the public in Cyprus with access to research output in an open and non-discriminatory way at the earliest stage possible in the process of dissemination and to ensure the possibility for their use and re-use and at the same time promotes initiatives embracing Open Science principles.

National Policy of the Republic of Cyprus for Open Science Practices

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