Open data sharing and reuse (part of the Open Research at Cambridge Conference series)

Special

Have you wondered how research data is used after it has been shared publicly (as open data)? What are some of the impacts of sharing data and of its subsequent reuse by others? Does the researcher or research group who shared their data openly benefit in any way from its reuse? What are the essential properties of a reusable dataset? In this session on ‘Open data sharing and reuse’ we will explore these questions amongst others via case studies presented by a panel of four University of Cambridge researchers from various fields – neuroscience, political sociology, medical imaging and law. All four have shared their research datasets as open data and had their data reused by others. Presentation of the case studies will be followed by questions from attendees and discussion.

Number of sessions: 1

Professor Richard (Rik) Henson, Deputy Director of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Psychiatry and President of the British Neuroscience Association. Professor Henson’s research concerns the systems neuroscience of human memory – how memory changes with age, dementia and brain damage. He is an expert in neuroimaging and advanced statistical and machine-learning analyses. He is also a strong advocate of open science.

Professor John Suckling, Director of Postgraduate Education in the Department of Psychiatry and chair of the University of Cambridge Research Ethics Committee. As a graduate student at the Institute of Cancer Research, Royal Marsden Hospital, he began his long-standing relationship with medical imaging research. His subsequent career saw him involved in the UK’s breast screening programme, developing biomechanical models for undergraduate medical education, and research into mental health and illness. His primary research areas involve brain imaging studies of psychiatric and acquired mental health disorders, and developmental conditions.

Dr Mihály Fazekas, assistant professor at the Department of Public Policy, Central European University and scientific director of an innovative think-tank at the Government Transparency Institute. Dr Fazekas has a PhD from the University of Cambridge (Department of Sociology), where he also worked as the scientific coordinator of the DIGIWHIST project, which used a big data approach to measuring corruption risks, administrative capacity, and transparency in public procurement in 33 European countries. His research and policy interests revolve around corruption, favouritism, private sector collusion, and government spending efficiency.

Professor Simon Deakin, Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law and Director of the Centre for Business Research. Professor Deakin specialises in the economics of law and empirical legal studies, with particular reference to labour law, private law, and corporate governance. He was co-chair of the Cambridge Public Policy Strategic Research Initiative. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and has received the ECGI and Allen & Overy prizes for his research on corporate governance. He has carried out consultancy and contract research for numerous governments, international organisations, companies, business associations, trade unions and NGOs.

This session is co-chaired by Dr Sacha Jones (Research Data Manager) and Dominic Dixon (Research Librarian), Office of Scholarly Communication at Cambridge University Libraries.