USS secures national fund to promote open science and democratize scientific knowledge
The OpenScience USS project seeks to strengthen the institutional capacities of Universidad San Sebastián to manage scientific research in an open and ethical manner, aligning with international standards and Chile’s National Open Access Policy (ANID).
Universidad San Sebastián (USS) was among the institutions selected in the InES Open Science 2025 competition of the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID), aimed at strengthening Chilean universities’ capacity to manage scientific knowledge under principles of openness, transparency, and universal access.
The USS proposal—OpenScience USS: Open Science as a Foundation for Excellence in Research—presents a comprehensive transformation that will allow open access to publications and research data for the scientific community, professionals, decision-makers, and society at large.
The awarded fund, amounting 200 million chilean pesos over two years, will make it possible to establish a new Open Science Unit within the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Doctoral Programs (VRID), create an interoperable institutional platform for managing open access data and publications, and train researchers and students in best practices for scientific openness.
“USS recognizes that open science is not just a regulatory requirement, but a necessary condition to ensure integrity and transparency throughout the research data lifecycle, ethics in data management, and greater contributions to the territories where we are present,” stated Dr. Andrea Leisewitz, Director of Integrity, Security, and Research Ethics at USS, who led the proposal.
Open science ensures that knowledge funded with public resources is available as a common good. This means not only sharing final results, but also the data, protocols, codes, and tools generated throughout the research process. Such practices foster collaboration, reproducibility, and the social use of knowledge.
Science for all: towards a new academic culture
In its Strategic Development Plan 2022–2029, USS aims to become a research university of excellence with national and territorial impact. The institutional adoption of open science is conceived as a key dimension to achieve that goal. By the end of the project, OpenScience USS envisions a fully established governance structure, interoperable platforms for publications and data, and an academic community trained and engaged in this new way of doing science.
The initiative is also expected to increase the visibility of USS’s scientific output, strengthen its positioning in international rankings and indicators, and open new opportunities for collaboration. As Dr. Leisewitz noted, “Open access typically increases the visibility and citation of scientific work, reinforcing the institutional value of research. It also fosters collaboration and synergies among researchers.”
From territories to the national open science ecosystem
With campuses in Santiago, Concepción, Valdivia, and Puerto Montt, USS has a strong commitment to territorial development. Open science will allow research results to be accessible to local communities, professionals, regional governments, and social organizations, who can use them to address concrete challenges.
This vision is aligned with national and international trends that promote science as a public good. Leading universities such as Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad de Chile, and Universidad de Santiago have already implemented their own open science initiatives. USS now joins this ecosystem as an institution that combines research excellence with regional engagement.
“In sum, the open science proposal is consistent with our institutional vision, as it strengthens excellence in research, expands community engagement, and modernizes university management,” concluded Dr. Leisewitz.
With OpenScience USS, Universidad San Sebastián takes a strategic and structural step towards a more open, collaborative, and ethical model of research, benefitting both the scientific community and society as a whole.