Lithuania

Lithuania

Overview

European Commission

EOSC Steering Board representatives

The Research Council of Lithuania has a mandate of providing recommendations on Open Access activities in Lithuania to policymakers and higher education and research institution. The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport participates Open Science activities as policy maker and has set up a steering group to provide recommendations to the Minister on Open Science issues in Lithuania.

Lithuania has a Law on Research and Higher Education which covers Open Access and research data, stipulating that “the results of all research work carried out in state higher education and research institutions must be communicated to the public”. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania submitted proposals to Parliament in December 2023 to amend this Law and to clarify the implementation of Open Access to scientific information. The proposals are expected to be adopted in the second quarter of 2024.

Lithuania participates in EOSC projects and developments, such as through EOSC Nordic.

At the institutional level Universities actively promote and to implement open science ideas by adopting institutional policies, giving training to researchers on open science practices and ensuring open access to research results.

In 2023 Vytautas Magnus University (LT) became the first Lithuanian university to receive the observer status in the EOSC Association.

Research Council of Lithuania

In 2016 The Research Council of Lithuania issued “Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Data“. The Council supports and participates in the open-access policy formation and encourages the dissemination of the open access concept. Its main activities are:

  • evaluating research activity
  • setting open access requirements for research projects
  • participating in the Open Science movement
  • advocating open access among policymakers,  researchers and knowledge managers
  • supporting global, national and institutional initiatives fostering open access

Contact: info@lmt.lt

Policies

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (MESS) of Lithuania is the main policymaker that is a part of acting government policy-making as well as the main fosterer of education, science and sport-related national agreements, strategies, and international involvement in platform. One of the goals of the MESS is to form the state policy in the field of research and development, and to organise, coordinate and control their implementation.

The Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania states that: “in order to ensure the quality of research conducted with funds from the state budget, to ensure transparency in the use of funds from the state budget and to promote scientific progress, the results of all research conducted in state higher education and research institutions must be disclosed publicly[…]” (Article 51)

In December 2023, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania submitted a proposal to the Parliament to amend Article 51 by clarifying terminology, extending the exceptions to the Open Access cases, and entrusting the Research Council of Lithuania with the task of defining the requirements for Open Access to research information at the national level. The proposals are expected to be adopted in the second quarter of 2024.

The Research Council of Lithuania adopted the Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Data. The Guidelines include the policy on open access (OA) and open research data in full alignment with the Horizon 2020 (H2020) OA mandate, the Open Research Data Pilot, and the Commission’s Recommendations on access to and preservation of scientific information. Projects funded by the Lithuanian Research Council are subject to these guidelines.

Open Science policies and resource provisioning in the Nordic and Baltic countries

The final report provides an update on the fragmented status of OS policies, the different choices for provisioning infrastructure resources and services in the participating countries, and the progress to establish an EOSC perspective within their national policies. Download now arrow_forward

People

  • photo_library

    NTE Nordic & Baltic

    4 October 2022, Tallinn