Representatives of the University of South Bohemia Discussed Open Science, Repositories, and Research Data Support at CERN

From 11 to 15 May 2026, Ing. Jaromír Kovárník from the Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters at the University of South Bohemia and Ing. Jiří Sláma, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Economics at the University of South Bohemia completed a professional working visit to CERN in Geneva. The visit was carried out with the support of the OP JAK project – Development of the Research Environment at the University of South Bohemia, and focused on open science, research data management, and institutional support for research.

The programme was organized in cooperation with the CERN Open Science Office, the CERN Scientific Information Service, and the Zenodo repository team. The aim of the visit was to gain inspiration for the further development of open science at the University of South Bohemia, better understand the functioning of international services for sharing research results, and establish contacts for future professional cooperation.

During the visit, the following topics were discussed in particular:

• the activities of the CERN Scientific Information Service and CERN Library,
• the role of the CERN Open Science Office in supporting open access to research results,
• the SCOAP3 initiative and opportunities for open publishing,
• the Open Research Europe (ORE) platform,
• the InspireHEP services and the CERN Open Source Programme Office,
• the operation of the Zenodo repository, faculty communities, and user support,
• practical aspects of research data management, the work of data stewards, and institutional support for researchers.

The visit also opened opportunities for further cooperation. Representatives of CERN appreciated the opportunity to share experiences related to the development of open science at the University of South Bohemia. Particularly promising areas for continued collaboration include Open Research Europe, the development and use of Zenodo communities, networking among data stewards, and the sharing of concrete examples of good practice.

The Zenodo repository support team especially welcomed the possibility of presenting successful examples of datasets uploaded within the faculty communities of the University of South Bohemia in the future, which may serve as inspiration for other researchers and institutions.