Spanish & Portuguese academic forum to discuss the strength of open science

 The Miguel Hernández University of Elche is acting as host for the 21^st Meeting of Rectors of the Tordesillas Group, which begins this Sunday, November 6, in Elche and runs through Tuesday, November 8. This Spanish-Portuguese academic forum will discuss the concept of open science as a fundamental element in the transition towards accessible, global, and democratic knowledge.

The UMH is taking on this organizational role in the same year that it turns 25 years of age with a top flight program that begins next Monday. Social aspects of this event are taking place the Sunday evening prior, with a reception. Hosting the reception are Carlos González, mayor of Elche, along with Juan José Ruiz, UMH rector, for the hundred or so participants who have gathered from various locations of Brazil, Portugal, and Spain, and who will partake in a welcome cocktail at the Parade Ground of the Altamira Palace. Among the prestigious guests present for this meeting are 10 rectors from various universities.

The academic portion of this meeting begins on Monday, November 7, in the Auditorium of the Rectorado & Consejo Social Building with an inaugural table presided over by the rectors of the UMH and University of Valladolid, together with vice rectors from the universities of Lisboa, Brasilia, and Federal of the State of Rio de Janeiro. An agreement between the Carolina Foundation and the Grupo Tordesillas is being signed during this introductory act. Then, the inaugural conference will address university institutions, the long road between oral transmission and quantum communications of open science, given by former rector of the universities of Alicante and Menéndez Pelayo, Salvador Ordóñez.

The academic network of the Tordesillas Group consists of 53 Brazilian, Portuguese, and Spanish universities. Included among the activities the network promotes are the creation of doctoral schools; each doctoral school is comprised by least one university from each of the three member countries, and the main objective of each is to advance educational and research excellence. One of these functioning doctoral schools, the Tordesillas Doctoral School of Public Health and History of Science, was created in 2017 and coordinated by the UMH, whose other members include the University of Porto (Portugal) and that of São Paulo (Brazil).

Throughout this meeting, world-renowned experts are taking part in roundtables and addressing issues such as the concept of open science, going beyond open access, on science at the service of society: strategies and regulatory frameworks, and the need to democratize knowledge. This meeting will also serve to highlight the progress of various Tordesillas doctoral schools—with the case of the Tordesillas Doctoral School of Public Health and History of Science presented by UMH professors Enrique Perdiguero and María Pastor.

The concluding conference of this importance academic event is being given by Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) researcher, Antonio Lafuente. His presentation is entitled, ‘Open Science: New History, Different Practices and Other Ontologies.’

For further information on speakers, the meeting program, and latest news about this event, go to https://tordesillasdoctoral.umh.es/ and @globalumh social media.