The State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine, together with co-organizers, is finalizing preparations for the anniversary event — the 5th International Scientific and Practical Conference "Open Science and Innovation in Ukraine 2026" (#OSICU_2026). The conference will take place on October 21–22, 2026, in an online format on the Zoom platform as part of International Open Access Week 2026.

The co-organizers of the conference are the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine, TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library (Germany), the NGO "Ukrainian Library Association", and the Public Union "Ukrainian Startup Association".

Leading open science experts from Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Serbia, Slovakia, the USA, Australia, as well as representatives of influential international organizations and initiatives, have already confirmed their participation. Among them are Sören Auer, Director of TIB; Joeri Both, Chair of the OpenAIRE Executive Board; Petr Knoth, Head of CORE; Joanna Ball, Managing Director of DOAJ; Juan Pablo Alperin, Scientific Director of the Public Knowledge Project; Monica Granados, Open Science Director at Creative Commons; Jessica Lindvall, Board Member of the EOSC Association; Joachim Schöpfel, Board Member of euroCRIS; Iryna Kuchma and Teresa Hackett, representatives of EIFL; Amanda French, Technical Community Manager at ROR; and Kimberly Parker, Hinari Programme Manager (Research4Life, WHO). Denys Kurbatov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, will deliver welcoming remarks. Naturally, the experience of Ukrainian institutions in developing open science will also be examined.

The conference program covers seven thematic panels: prospects for the development of Ukraine’s research infrastructure; modern challenges to research practices and research assessment reform; open research data and research reproducibility; academic integrity and research ethics; copyright, patent, and information law and open science; innovations in Ukraine; and the development of digital resources and skills. Additionally, a COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) session and a poster presentation session are scheduled.

Interest in the conference is traditionally high: almost 200 participants from across Ukraine have already registered — including researchers, librarians, educators, academic journal editors, and representatives of higher education and research institutions. The organizers have received over 50 abstracts, based on which a conference proceedings volume is being prepared for publication.

Participant registration remains open until October 15, 2026, on theconference website. Connection links will be sent to all registered participants one week prior to the event.

We cordially invite you to join!