Within the scope of the DIRNA Project, Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) hosted a study tour on November 15-17, 2023, with the participation of 16 people from 8 Azerbaijan HEIs. The aim of the study tour was to share information about Open Science and Institutional Repository practices at Izmir Institute of Technology and to support AZHEIs, in developing their own applications.

About DIRNA Project

The Establishment of Institutional Repository Network in Azerbaijan (DIRNA) Project is an Erasmus+ project in partnership with eight Azerbaijani Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and three European HEIs for 2023-2026.  The DIRNA project aims to build capacity to ensure the management of research outputs, focusing on eight leading Azerbaijani HEIs. DIRNA activities include reviewing the current status of research outputs management in the seven Azerbaijani Partner Institutions, assessing the drivers and barriers influencing Azerbaijani staff and students with regards to sharing their research outputs, developing tailored training to increase capacity among AZHEIs, research support staff for designing, implementing, operating, populating, and sustaining OAIRs.

Azerbaijan Partner Institutions: Baku State University, Technical University, Academy of the State Customs Committes of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ganja State University, Nakhcivan State University, Lankaran State University, Mingachevir State University.

European Partner Institutions: University of Jyvaskyla - Finland, Izmir Institute of Technology - Turkey, Universita Degli Studi Dell Aquila – Italy

İzmir Study Tour: Important Collaboration for Open Science

Since 2011, IZTECH, involved in all phases of OpenAIRE projects and has been serving as the OpenAIRE NOAD in Türkiye, is one of the leading institutions of Open Science studies in Türkiye. IZTECH, which has significant knowledge and experience in open science and institutional repositories, hosted the first of the Study Tours to be organized for European Partners within the scope of the DIRNA Project and provided training to Azerbaijan Partners for three days.

The training started with the opening speeches of IZTECH Library Director and OpenAIRE Executive Board Member Gültekin Gürdal and IZTECH Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Alper Baba. Participants were given information about IZTECH and the IZTECH library. Also, library and campus tours were organized.

In the three-day study tour, after an overview of Open Science, information about the development of open science in Türkiye and the world was given. In addition, the development processes of Institutional Repositories in Türkiye and IZTECH were explained. OpenAIRE services, which are critical for Open Science, were one of the important topics of the training. OpenAIRE services were introduced to the participants, and information was given about how they can benefit from them in open science practices. In addition, after the presentation, in which general information about the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) was shared, the EOSC Portal was introduced to the participants.

During the study tour, all aspects of IZTECH Institutional Repository and Research Information System GCRIS, such as its features, technical infrastructure, administrator module, and data entry screens, were explained in detail, and practices were made. In the discussion session, where GCRIS developers also participated, questions about technical issues were answered. Thus, all important information about establishing an Institutional Repository Network in AZHEIs, which is the main purpose of the DIRNA project, was conveyed to the participants, and their questions were answered.

The importance of metadata quality, basic topics in research data management and COAR (Confederation of Open Access Repositories), Community Framework for Good Practices in Repositories presentations were also given to the participants. The study tour, which included intense and important issues, ended with a general evaluation.