Call for OPERAS Scientific Advisory Committee members
OPERAS is a dynamic and community-driven Research Infrastructure supporting open scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in the European Research Area. Its mission is to coordinate and federate resources in Europe to address the scholarly communication needs of European researchers efficiently. OPERAS’ vision is to make Open Science a reality for research and to achieve a scholarly communication system where knowledge produced in the SSH benefits researchers, academics, and students fully and widely, and where it also benefits the whole society across Europe and worldwide, without barriers. OPERAS aims to coordinate efforts, align services, promote standards, and develop new, shared services for researchers, libraries and open access publishers.
OPERAS is actively contributing to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and is currently progressing towards becoming a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).
The OPERAS RI (AISBL) established a new governance system in 2020 and evolved it constantly since then. It is driven by an Executive Assembly composed of 13 members and managed by a General Assembly. To support the Executive Assembly in its decision-making we are seeking international experts to advise on the scientific activities, priorities, and services of OPERAS.
The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) is an independent body, composed of experts providing strategic advice and recommendations to the Executive Assembly on the ethical, scientific and technical current and future projects, as well as OPERAS activities.
Be part of a dynamic, multidisciplinary and international network shaping the research publication structure of tomorrow! Help us to learn more about the SSH researchers’ needs and aims and to open the doors for Open Science for SSH in Europe and worldwide.
The Scientific Advisory Committee of OPERAS is presently seeking new members from the following communities: researchers, publishers, librarians and technology professionals. They should be experts in one or more of the following topics: Social Sciences and Humanities, Scholarly Communication, Open Science and Digital
Infrastructures. Particularly needed are interdisciplinary legal scholars and specialists in public engagement (incl. practitioners and policymakers).
The experts will have an international or national reputation and therefore significant experience or interest in the domain covered by OPERAS AISBL. The experts do not represent a country or region, only themselves. Application is open to early-career as well as to senior professionals and researchers. In accordance with OPERAS Gender Equality Plan, gender balance will be sought in the selection of the candidates. The communication language will be English as Lingua Franca (ELF, an international English).
OPERAS offers:
● diverse, ambitious, and interesting tasks and topics in exchange with other European and international experts
● cutting-edge discussions within a cooperative atmosphere
● the possibility to influence important decisions and thus shape the future of Open Science for SSH in Europe.
The SAC meetings generally take place online via Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Meetings are held monthly, with a total of 9 meetings per year. Travelling costs to face-to-face meetings will be covered by OPERAS.
Interested international experts – not necessarily based in Europe – are invited to send a CV and a one-page cover letter to Pierre Mounier (pierre.mounier@operas-eu.org) and the OPERAS office (secretariat-general@operas-eu.org). Members will be appointed for a period of four years, renewable once.
Deadline for submission: September 13, 2026 at midnight CEST
List of interesting expertise for OPERAS SAC:
● Sustainability of research infrastructures
● Diamond OA publishing (especially books)
● EOSC
● Citizen science
● Public engagement and participatory research
Expertise most urgently needed for this call:
● Inclusivity in publishing (EDIB – Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging);
● Legislative and regulatory developments related to scholarly publishing (e.g. expertise in European or national legislation and digital policy, ideally including AI-related regulatory developments, as well as broader legal framework affecting digital research infrastructures, including digital regulations, privacy, consumer protection, and the use of digital technologies);
● Preventing disinformation and increasing public trust;
● Ethical and legal considerations in AI.
For more details on topics of interest, please contact the OPERAS General Secretariat at secretariat-general@operas-eu.org.