4th Annual Forum for Open Research in MENA

This year, the Annual Forum will offer a mixture of individual presentations, moderated round table discussions, and workshops. As accessibility lies at the hearts of everything we do, this will be a fully hybrid event, with all in-person activities live streamed, in English and Arabic. The programme will include a full day of online presentations, two days of in-person presentations, and a half day of high-impact workshops.

Reflecting the overarching message of last year’s Annual Forum concerning the need to collaborate as individuals, as institutions, as communities and countries – within our local environment and as a region – this year’s theme focuses on building our open science communities and developing our open science capacities.

Given the UAE has designated 2025 as the Year of Community, we are therefore particularly delighted to be able to announce that this year’s Annual Forum, will take place in the UAE, in partnership with the American University of Sharjah. We are honoured to be partnering with this institution, a regional leader for research and education in the Arab world. We are also excited to be able to host the Annual Forum in the Emirate of Sharjah, which is home to so many of the region’s leading publishers and collaborative research and innovation centers.