Open Science

My contribution to open science is to show its pragmatic advantages. Within the scope of this project, I will build an artificial flower consisting of both open hardware and open software. This project is a challenge for me: the complexity will go far beyond my neurobiological knowledge. In the course of the project, I want to show how working openly makes it possible to acquire new skills outside of one’s own professional horizons at surprising speed, thereby generating additional experiments. This "taking" component is to be described as well as the "giving" aspect of open research. I would like to show in detail how open source methods can make your own code reusable and can be quoted via a DOI. This also applies to circuits and electronic assemblies. Open hardware makes it possible to jointly develop plans for devices with the corresponding community. Adaptations can be implemented quickly and without too much expertise. These and other practices invite fast and uncomplicated collaboration - this increases the reach of one's own work and allows experiments involving a wide range of expertise, without the need of a single person understanding everything in depth. The Internet already has many forums where one’s own expertise can be provided and where other experts are at their disposal. This is not only useful for quick and convenient access to specific information, but the credibility of the results increases when your own work is open. This approach also makes it possible to correct errors, as it allows practiced programmers with an analytical background to view the analysis code for example.

Similar questions can build on already published code and do not have to be worked out from the beginning. I would like to illustrate this type of open research by accompanying individual aspects of my work, for example through blog entries and a final guide. It will not be a generalized text, which applies equally to all disciplines, but rather specifically reflect my experience, including the platforms, forums and other links. Nonetheless, almost all of the tools used are interdisciplinary and have not been specifically developed for research. The idea is to stimulate the curiosity and give starting points from where the reader can recognize for themself the limits and possibilities. The very concrete proposals, where one could begin to participate in open science are part of my contribution. The final guide will go beyond "Internet for scientists", since the sharing of one's own work (text, code, data) and the resulting synergies will be in the foreground.