University of Bristol: UKRI funding will support Bristol’s efforts for more open research

The University of Bristol has been leading sectoral efforts to embed open research across institutions.

The Minister for Science also announced £650,000 funding from Research England, over three years, for Octopus, a novel and disruptive publishing concept for which the University of Bristol is a project partner and will lead work on its evaluation.

Octopus is a new platform for the scientific community which will provide a new primary research record for recording and appraising research as it happens by breaking down the publication of scientific research into specific elements, unlike a traditional journal article.

It is also supported by the UK Reproducibility Network, a Bristol-led multi-institution collaboration headed up by Professor Marcus Munafò, from the University’s School of Psychological Science.

He said: “I’m delighted to see such emphatic support for Open Research from UKRI, the Minister and Research England. Octopus offers a genuinely novel and disruptive approach to scientific publishing.

“We are delighted to be able to support this initiative, through our role in the UK Reproducibility Network and as direct partners in the project.”