About the session
In this session, learn about the new platform Octopus and how it is designed to work as the primary research record. Have a chance to feed into its final design before its launch, and hear how its designed to change the research culture, and the way we approach science, for the better.
Please note: This session commence with a five minute presentation by C-DICE. C-DICE is the Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure Cities and Energy, a world-class postdoctoral development programme which leverages the capability of 18 leading research-intensive UK universities.In the rapidly changing global environment, businesses need the skills and expertise to handle new challenges. This is why C-DICE aims to build and sustain the advanced skills base required to create a pipeline of world-class talent for the Infrastructure, Cities and Energy (IC&E) sectors, and accelerate progress towards a net-zero society by 2050. C-DICE brings together the collective expertise of the UKCRIC universities with the partners of the Energy Research Accelerator, working alongside research associations, institutes, and many leading industrial partners.
Who is it for?
- Early Career Researchers (including Postdocs)
- Mid-Career Researchers
- Managers of Researchers
- Research-related Professional Services Staff (including research support administrators, researcher developers and career development professionals)
- Others eg: stakeholders from industry, funding agencies, policy influencers, editors etc.
Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will have:
- understood how Octopus works
- contributed to its overall design.
Get to know your facilitator
Dr Alexandra Freeman, Director, Octopus; Executive Director, Winton Centre for Risk & Evidence Communication
Dr Alexandra Freeman moved from making science television programmes to leading a centre in Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge. In doing so she realised how perverse the incentive structure was within science, being driven by the ability to tell compelling narratives in ‘papers’. Rather than rewarding storytelling and rhetoric, scientific communication in the 21st century should be about allowing global collaboration and fast dissemination of research work of all kinds, and rewarding ‘good work, well shared’. This led her to set up Octopus, a strictly not-for-profit concept, to be the new primary research record, driven by and for the good of the scientific community as a whole. the LivWise network across the Faculties delivering initiatives that have supported the Athena Swan Charter.
Session video and presentation
Download the presentation (PDF, 2.9MB)
Further resources
- Demo version of Octopus: https://science-octopus.org
- Octopus YouTube video
All NPDC21 listed resources including presentation slides and top tips are freely available. Please ensure you acknowledge the author(s) and/or source when using them.
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