The Global Research Initiative on Open Science (GRIOS) aims to promote more effective Open Science policies by synthesising our current knowledge about Open Science (for full details: www.grios.org). GRIOS is hosted by the European Science Foundation (ESF), and the call is managed by ESF, on behalf of GRIOS.
Open Science is hailed as a more inclusive, equitable, and effective form of performing science, offering increased benefits to both the global research community and society. While many research funders, research organisations, as well as national and international authorities have adopted Open Science policies, implementing Open Science strategies remains challenging, particularly when deciding among different models for funding, monitoring, evaluation, and infrastructure.
To overcome these hurdles and identify key barriers towards the global adoption of Open Science, stakeholders require the implementation of Open Science strategies to be based on evidence provided by existing scientific knowledge. This evidence-driven approach not only helps identify and fill crucial knowledge gaps but also plays a vital role in demonstrating the merits of Open Science to political decision-makers, the broader public, and the research community ultimately boosting its widespread adoption.
The objectives of GRIOS are to:
- Produce reviews of existing research on Open Science worldwide, in order to synthesise current knowledge and identify opportunities and challenges.
- Formulate recommendations for Open Science policies based on the results of the scientific research highlighted by the reviews.
- Propose a research agenda to fill gaps in current knowledge on Open Science and promote new research on the subject.
The current call will fund reviews of existing research on Open Science worldwide, in order to synthesise current knowledge and identify opportunities and challenges.
The GRIOS leadership, with the guidance of the GRIOS Academic Advisory Board, have identified Open Science topics that are a priority for funders and policy makers — areas where evidence-based Open Science policies are most needed and where scientific evidence is currently lacking.
This call will fund evidence synthesis on two priority topics identified by GRIOS funders and its Academic Advisory Board:
- Incentives and research assessment — Which incentive schemes and assessment reforms increase the uptake of Open Science practices?
- Research data sharing — What factors influence the effectiveness of research data sharing policies?
Only applicants meeting the following criteria will be considered as eligible:
- Applicants from all countries are eligible to respond to this call.
- The applicant is an individual researcher, a research team, a scientific/ research organisation, institute or a consortium of organisations, a research consultancy, for profit or non for profit, affiliated or not to a University, RPO, research centre, research-performing NGO or foundation.
- Applicants must be available to deliver the project within the indicated timescale and budget.
- Applicants must not present a conflict of interest with the aims or the process of the call. Ineligible applicants include, for example, commercial actors with a financial stake in influencing public research policies, or researchers with a close affiliation with members of GRIOS committees, etc.
GRIOS seeks proposals grounded in rigorous, transparent methods and Open Science practices. One review will be funded per topic, with a maximum budget of €80,000 per project. Projects are expected to run for 12 months.
Submissions are open from 23 April until 20 July 2026 (16:00h CEST).
Proposals must be submitted via the SmartSimple platform: https://esf.smartsimple.ie
