Towards good science: rethinking the fundamentals of research

Reliability, Transparency and Reproducibility in Scientific Research: academics and representatives of institutions will discuss these issues on Monday 20 May, from 2 to 6.30 p.m. in the Aula Giorgio Prodi (Piazza San Giovanni in Monte, 3 - Bologna), during the meeting dedicated to "Reliability, Transparency and Reproducibility".

The event is the first in the trilogy of "Back to the Fundamentals of Research", dedicated to the fundamentals of scientific research and promoted by the University of Bologna's Vice Rector for Research, Alberto Credi. The second event, to be held after the summer, will focus on interdisciplinarity and the third will focus on ethics and academic freedom. A position paper will be produced for each meeting summarising the key concepts that emerged.

"These three meetings, which will take place over the course of 2024, have been created in response to the need to reflect on and critically examine the principles of research, in the context of its increasing specialization and the technological advances that this entails", explains Professor Credi. "We believe it is important to continue the debate on these issues at national and international level in order to promote the fundamental values of research that we recognise as the paradigm of good science."

The aim of the meeting on 20 May, organised in collaboration with Professor Francesca Masini, Delegate for Open Science and Research Data at the University of Bologna, is to explore whether and how reliability, transparency and reproducibility of results can be translated into criteria for assessing the quality of knowledge generated by research.

"Open science practices are becoming increasingly embedded in our research activities, but it is not yet entirely clear how they can be promoted and incentivised in the context of an increasingly responsible and inclusive assessment of research, such as the one promoted by CoARA”, says Professor Masini. "In order to contribute to the intense international debate on this issue, we believe it is appropriate to reflect once again on basic concepts such as reliability, transparency and reproducibility, taking care to apply them to the different disciplinary areas that characterise our rich research community."

Opening the debate will be Sabina Leonelli, Professor of Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Exeter, and Daniele Fanelli, Professor of Social Research Methods at Heriot-Watt University.

This will be followed by a first round table discussion, focusing on the challenges facing the research world and the recommendations of funding and evaluation bodies. Representatives of national and international institutions, including Daniele Livon, from the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research (ANVUR), and Vincenzo Di Felice, from the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR), will also take part in the debate.

In the second round table, researchers and lecturers from the University of Bologna will then share a series of experiences and good practices of transparent and reproducible research activities, selected by the scientific committee consisting of professors Alberto Credi, Stefano Diciotti, Monica Forni, Francesca Masini and Silvio Peroni.