The ORION MOOC is a 6-week course on open science in life sciences. There is a new module each week and participants have a week to complete it (7 days to complete each of the first 5 modules, and 5 days to complete the last module). Each week we will activate a new module so that you can access the learning material, complete the assignments and discuss the weekly topic with your peers.

Why take this course?

This course will help you develop a range of hard and soft skills, such as data management, peer review, and science communication that will increase your abilities as a researcher. In addition, the landscape of research is changing and this course will enable you to keep ahead of these changes. Watch this introduction video with the course moderators Emma, Luiza, and Sabine to find out more. 

Syllabus

• Week 1: Publishing & Open Access (Part 1)
• Week 2: Publishing & Open Access (Part 2)
• Week 3: Research Data Management
• Week 4: FAIR and Open Data
• Week 5: Science Communication & Public Engagement
• Week 6: Reflection & Action

Guidelines

This MOOC is based on a collaborative learning format. Therefore many of the course activities will focus on the Forum, the Blog and the Glossary. Here is some guidelines that help you proceed with the MOOC.

Completion

To complete the course participants have to actively engage with the course materials,  complete the weekly assignments or activities, and participate in the forum discussions across all six modules. 

Badges

Badges are earned by participants for completing weekly modules and for completing the whole course. Activities which are part of the weekly assignments are clearly indicated as such. 

Completion Certificates and Special Awards

The ‘Open Science Expert’ Certificate is awarded for completing the course and earning the minimum number of badges. The certificate will be released only when the activities in the final week of the course are submitted. 

Fun prizes will be raffled to participants who complete the course with the maximum number of badges. Those participants who are drawn in the lottery will be sent a surprise gift box to their home. 

Forum

The MOOC forum will be open for the duration of the six week course. Some of the module activities will include using the forum. Beyond that you are actively encouraged to share ideas, experiences, and questions on the forum, and to respond to those of other participants. The course moderators will monitor the forum to ensure questions are answered quickly, but peer-to-peer learning is the main focus of the forum. The forum can be accessed within the weekly modules. 

Glossary

The MOOC glossary functions as a similar way to a normal wiki. A glossary allows a group of people to enter and communally edit bits of text. Many activities will require you to add links and text to the glossary, the result of this will be a living document that will contain useful Open Science materials for future course participants and other researchers. The glossary can be accessed from the main menu on the left and from within the weekly modules. 

Blog

During some of the weekly modules of the course there will be activities in collaborative writing and science communication using a course blog or a course repository. The blogs can be accessed within the weekly modules.

Conduct

Participants are expected to behave respectfully on the forum and the glossary. Harassment and bullying of any kind will not be tolerated and will lead to immediate removal from the course by moderators. If you feel another participant has behaved inappropriately then please report it to the moderators by email. 

Questions for Moderators

Moderators can be contacted directly either on the forum by writing in the ‘Questions for Moderators’ section or by emailing orion@mdc.de.