Navigating the World of Open Access Publishing: A hands-on Introduction for Early-Career Researchers
Open Access has emerged as a significant topic across all academic disciplines, representing free and unrestricted access to scientific information. It stands as a central objective within Europe’s science strategy and high on EULiST’s agenda, as legally sharing information enhances international cooperation across institutional boundaries.
This course introduces early career researchers to key principles and practices of scholarly publishing and Open Access, enabling participants to critically reflect upon and enhance their publication strategies for dissertations and other scholarly outputs. It combines extensive self-study with two synchronous online seminar sessions. The workload is approximately 27 hours an includes completing small assignments.
In the first interactive online session, the participants will meet one another and gain an overview of the course topics. The subsequent self-study phase, lasting several weeks, includes seven video modules (10-20 minutes each), in German with English subtitles, covering copyright and licenses, visibility and metrics, Open Access transformation, preprints, and predatory publishing (see the online modules). Participants will also research Open Access policies and publishing services relevant to their own disciplines and countries. The second synchronous session offers direct Q&A with experts and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.
The course is jointly provided by TIB Hannover and TU Wien and is open to all early career researchers from EULiST partner universities.
For questions, please contact: Deborah.Sielert[at]tib.eu
- Working language: English
- Registration deadline: November 4, 2026
- Trainer: Dr. Deborah Sielert + Dr. Stefan Schmeja, Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) & Sarah C. Krassnig + Christoph Hornung, TU Wien
- Course number: EULiST_2
Dr. Deborah Sielert studied “Gender&Ethnicity” at Utrecht University and earned her doctorate in sociology at LUH. She now works as an Open Access Counselor at TIB, with a focus on supporting the European University Alliance “EULiST”.
Dr. Stefan Schmeja earned his doctorate in astrophysics and subsequently worked in research. Since 2015, he has been working in the Publications Services Department at TIB, advising on all matters relating to scholarly publishing and open access.
Sarah C. Krassnig is a librarian in the Publication Service section of TU Wien Library and specializes in open access. After finishing her Ph.D. in molecular toxicology, she initially worked in the pharma industry, where she gained experience as a project manager.
Christoph Hornung leads SG Publication Services at TU Wien Bibliothek and has extensive experience with Open Access projects, science communication, and guidance on academic publishing.
