Royce Open Research & Data Symposium

Bio

Philip Withers is the Regius Professor of Materials and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He is the Chief Scientist of the Henry Royce Institute based around capabilities at the Universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College as well as the National Nuclear Labs, and the Atomic Energy Authority at Culham. His research focusses on applying advanced techniques to follow the behaviour of materials in real time and 3D often performing under demanding environments. To this end he exploits electron, lab and synchrotron X-ray and neutron beams to illuminate materials behaviour. In 2008 he set up the Henry Moseley X-ray Imaging Facility, a world-leading suite of X-ray imaging systems, which in 2020 became a founding part of the National Research Facility in Lab. CT.

Abstract

Materials Informatics: Accelerating Materials Innovation

Bio

Race is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and leads the Atomistic Simulation of Materials group within the Department of Materials at the University of Manchester. His group uses the tools of atomistic simulation to investigate the behaviour of a variety of materials and material evolution processes. His research is focused on the fundamental properties and behaviour of grain boundaries in polycrystalline materials and on the degradation of materials in demanding environments. Chris’s group also explores ways that modern data science and image analysis methods can be applied to materials science problems.

Bio

Scott is the Head of the University of Manchester Office for Open Research. He has been involved in the development of scholarly communication services at Manchester since 2008. Alongside leading the Open Research Programme, he oversees the Library’s research support services: these include the Library’s Open Access Service, Research Metrics Service, and Research Data Management services. Scott’s current main responsibility is the delivery of a roadmap of activities that will drive the creation of Open Research services and infrastructure across the University of Manchester.

Bio

James is a PhD student working on the synthesis and characterisation of nanomaterials (MXenes) for applications in nuclear fusion within Philipp Frankel’s group at the University of Manchester. James has a background in Chemistry, science communication, and community outreach. He will soon be completing his PhD and taking a role in R&D at Nanoplexus.

Abstract:

I will be presenting on my decision to fully open my research at the end of my PhD research project. I will be touching on my background in Chemistry, and how the rigorous laboratory training involved influenced my choice of employing research data management techniques and tools. Following on, I will be discussing how those tools enable me to open up my research and presenting my workflow for doing so, as well as touching on funder requirements.

Bio

I am a research technician / software engineer working as part of the Pyne Lab in the Royce Discovery Centre at the University of Sheffield. My work focuses on developing and using the TopoStats research software for the analysis of atomic force microscopy images as part of research with applications ranging from silicon wafer production, to therapeutics for combating cancer. I am hoping to start a PhD studentship in September, using atomic force microscopy, computational methods and machine learning to quantitatively investigate telomere function.

Abstract

I will present on how we, the Pyne Lab research group, re-wrote the TopoStats Python package for AFM image analysis using open-source and FAIR4RS principles, as TopoStats 2.0, and how open-source and FAIR4RS principles have impacted success and community engagement.

Jack Brook

Bio

Jack Brook is an Associate Publisher at F1000, part of Taylor & Francis Group, with over six years of experience working in academic publishing. He is an open science and open data advocate, supporting F1000’s effort to change the way science is communicated and improve trust in published research.

Abstract

Open research publishing in materials science – how can open research practices accelerate discovery and maximise real-world impact?

Over the past decade, several significant projects and publication venues have been launched which aim to embed open research principles in materials science. Such initiatives aim to change the way in which research is carried out and maximise the impact of the ever-increasing research and data that is produced every year. These approaches can help the community further embrace the opportunities afforded by cross-disciplinary, collaborative research and accelerate the discovery, design, and deployment of new materials. Major challenges remain, however, in ensuring data is FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) and the related research is open and reproducible. Publishers have an important role to play in addressing these challenges. Materials Open Research (MOR), a new publishing platform from F1000 and Taylor & Francis, aligns closely with these values. This presentation will demonstrate how MOR is supporting open and reproducible materials science by detailing how we support authors in the implementation of the FAIR Data Principles and highlighting how our innovative publication model goes beyond the boundaries seen in traditional publication venues.