Open Research in the Age of AI (In-person)

Open Research in the Age of AI invites our research community and wider audience to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping scholarly practice, integrity, and openness. As part of Bristol Data Week 2026, this event will bring together experts from across disciplines to examine risks and opportunities that AI presents for open research.

From 13:00, attendees are welcome to join an informal buffet lunch, offering the chance to connect with colleagues and visitors ahead of the main programme. The event begins at 13:45 with a welcome and a keynote from Dr Beth Montague-Hellen, from the Francis Crick Institute, whose work sits at the intersection of AI and open scholarship. This plenary session will explore how AI can create a sense of expanded knowledge while often obscuring access to the underlying literature and data, highlighting how the mechanisms used by AI can unintentionally discourage openness and what this means for researchers committed to open scholarship.

After a refreshment break, the programme continues with a panel discussion and short talks from University of Bristol researchers and beyond including:

• Matthew Brown - Professor in Latin American History and chair of the University Ethics of Research Committee
• Pen-Yuan Hsing - Open source, open science and citizen science researcher & advocate and Honorary Senior Research Associate in the School of Psychological Science
• Miriam Maus - Publishing Director at IOP Publishing
• Aisling O'Kane - Associate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction for Health in the School of Computer Science

This session will explore the risks, opportunities and implications that AI introduces for open research practices, such as reproducibility, data sharing, methodological transparency, and research integrity.

The event closes at 17:00.

Title: At our Fingertips but out of reach: Does AI need Open Research?

Bio: Dr Beth Montague-Hellen started off academic life as a Molecular Biologist studying at Manchester University. The next 14 years were spent as a bioinformatician, accruing an MSc and a PhD on the way. Following this, Beth decided that supporting others to do excellent research was far more rewarding than actually doing the research and so moved into Libraries and Research Support. Beth takes an as open-as-possible, EDI focused approach to research support and is a big advocate for green OA alongside a completely transparent research cycle including radically open data and software sharing.

Open to all. The event is especially suited to anyone interested in understanding how to engage with AI responsibly while maintaining open research principles and conducting research with integrity.

1. Understand how AI intersects with and challenges open research principles.
2. Hear diverse perspectives on AI’s implications for transparency and integrity in research.
3. Reflect on how openness can support responsible and accountable use of AI in scholarship.

• Lavinia Gambelli, Open Research Community Manager, University of Bristol
• Richard Westaway, UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) Local Network Lead, University of Bristol

Please look at our Code of Conduct for all online and in-person events organised by the JGI.

This event is part of Bristol Data Week 2026, organised by the Jean Golding Institute taking please from Monday 1 June – Friday 5 June 2026. Bristol Data Week is a university-wide umbrella event bringing together academia, industry, community organisations, policy makers and the public to explore the power of data science and AI in addressing real-world challenges.

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Host or Publisher Jean Golding Institute at the University of Bristol