National Open Research Festival (NORFest) 2025

The Ireland National Open Research Festival will be held on 6-7 November 2025 at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. This two-day event will spotlight global open science, cross-cutting policy agendas, and emerging themes in open research and innovation.

If attending, you must register for each workshop individually. Workshops have limited capacity and may book up quickly.

View the event and read the workshop descriptions carefully before booking.

Event programme

The Norfest 2025 programme is available on the NORF website.

Programme highlights include:

• A keynote talk by Ms. Joy Owango, Founding Director of the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa);
• Expert speakers including Franklin van der Hoeven, Programme Manager, Open Science, TU Delft; Lautaro Matas, Executive and Technical Director of LA Referencia and Rebecca Lawrence, Vice-Chair of DORA;
• Panel discussions on ‘Global Open Research’ and ‘Why knowledge security enables Open Science’;
• ‘Cross-cutting policy agendas’ and ‘Open Research for Innovation’ lightning talks;
• Interactive workshops on both days of the festival from ‘Open Research 101’ to ‘Community Engagement’ workshops.

NORFest 2025 Theme: Synergies

The 2025 festival will centre on the theme of synergies, highlighting the interconnectedness of open research across national and international policy frameworks and research strategies. By fostering collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and innovators, the festival aims to strengthen the integration of open research principles into the broader research landscape. Through keynote addresses, panel discussions and interactive workshops, participants will explore how open research can drive meaningful change by aligning efforts across global and local research initiatives.

Event Objectives:

• Foster collaboration and dialogue on open science initiatives.
• Address policy agendas related to open research, research integrity, and research assessment reform.
• Explore emerging themes such as open-source software, AI, and knowledge security.
• Provide a platform for NORF-funded projects to share insights and progress.

Organiser details

The National Open Research Festival (NORFest) is organised by Ireland’s National Open Research Forum (NORF) with the support of the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) and the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and the expertise of the Festival Programme Committee. Funding for the event was provided by the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

Established in 2017 to drive the national agenda for open research, NORF provides a space for communication, consultation and cooperation among key stakeholders in the research system regarding strategic issues and overarching policies and procedures on open research.

Access requirements

Have you got any access requirements that we can assist you with, so that you can fully engage with our event? Please let us know by contacting our access officer in advance of the event by email: [email protected]

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Host or Publisher Digital Repository of Ireland and iCAN