Citizen Science -
The Broader Engagement between Researchers and Society

Introduction

The Internet is plagued with Trackers

Article 1 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights states that “Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected”. Article 12 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes this statement: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy … [or] correspondence.” In addition, the 2018 general data protection regulation (GDPR): “sets a high standard for consent” (ICO). This informed consent entails “offering individuals real choice and control” and “genuine consent should put individuals in charge, build trust and engagement”. The CSI-COP project will explore compliance of GDPR’s informed consent by leveraging citizen science methodology. With the project team, CSI-COP citizen scientists will investigate the extent to which our online privacy is compromised, and our human dignity is violated through digital tracking across the Internet in websites and in Android Apps.

The power of many - Citizen Science at the University of Southern Denmark

This presentation maps out the approach towards Citizen Science at SDU. First, it lays of the organization and governance of the SDU Citizen Science Network and our mission statement including the strong connection to the United Nations Sustainability Goals. Second, it briefly makes the connection to central taxonomies with in Citizen Science in order define our approach. Third, the presentation presents out a number of cases (Citizen Science projects) from SDU. From narrative medicine to End-Of-Life sustainability, from science communication to marine life and lakes. And last, Citizen Science at SDU has clear directions towards partnerships. We lay out a matrix for discussion on how to engage in a dialogue with researchers and societal actors.

Anyone can participate

As the SARS-CoV-2 virus has become a significant problem threatening the existence of humankind, scientists immediately began research to clarify the virus' mode of action. We began to look for compounds that could potentially block the activity of the virus. Our strategy is based on the in-silico approach, virtual screening with molecular docking. We tried to filter drug candidates from the vast virtual space of drug-like molecules. Even the screening of a relatively small part of the chemical space (in our case, about 10 million compounds) is computationally intensive, which is why we are working on the Citizen Science project - COVID.SI.

BESPOC - A Prototype for Citizen Science Single Point of Contact at Universities

Citizen Science is one of the Open Science pillars as defined by the European Commission’s Open Science Policy Platform. It stays next to Responsible Research Indicators, FAIR Data, Open Access and 4 other important pillars designed to make research more open and reproducible. The purpose of this presentation is to create a conversation around our prototype for ‘Citizen Science Single Point of Contact’, a concept first introduced in October 2016 by the European League of Research Universities (LERU). Written as a recommendation for institutions, the Single Point of Contact for Citizen Science is suggested to the leadership of universities, to advise scientists and to ensure liaison with national and regional citizen science initiatives. Scientific Knowledge Services has been prototyping independently such a concept since 2017 when we first mentioned roles for European research libraries in the Citizen Science world. That happened at the LIBER Conference in PATRAS, Greece. Our prototype is called BESPOC (Broad Engagement in Science - Point of Contact) and it has nine elements. We will present in this contribution the core of each element.

Panel discussion

Chaired by Miro Pušnik, University of Ljubljana