Batool Almarzouq
Research Project Manager, Alan Turing Institute, London, UK
Lead of Open Science Community Saudi Arabia
When
Monday, September 22 – Wednesday, September 24, 2025 (Berlin time / CEST)
Pre-conference workshops: September 22, 2025, 2 – 5pm
Main Unconference: Monday, September 22, 2025, 5pm – Wednesday, September 24, 2025, 1pm
Where
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum
Format
In presence only. Due to the highly interactive and collaborative unconference format, hybrid and remote participation will not be possible.
Language
The communication language of the unconference is English.
Programme Organizing Committee
About the Event
This event is hosted by the QUEST Center for Responsible Research | Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité , the Einstein Foundation Award for Promoting Quality in Research and EXCELScIOR ERA Chair | University of Coimbra.
Responsible Research in Action (RRiA) Unconference 2025 - A Collaborative Event for Everyone Ready To Improve Research Culture From the Inside
The RRiA Unconference 2025 invites you to step out of the traditional conference format and into an interactive, team-based environment focused on how research is done.
Join us from September 22-24, 2025 in Berlin.
We will work in interdisciplinary teams to discuss various aspects of responsible research and co-create actionable solutions for current issues.
Whether you're driven to improve research culture, want to rethink how science is evaluated, or design new models of funding and collaboration — this event is for you!
This is a unique opportunity to work alongside different stakeholders from the research ecosystem on practical change projects. We won't just talk about improving research practice, but help build it.
What Is an Unconference?
An Unconference is a participant-driven, interactive, unconventional meeting designed to maximize informal exchanges and stimulate discussions that typically occur during networking breaks at traditional conferences. At the RRiA Unconference, instead of listening to presentations, you’ll learn from conversations and activities, while working hands-on and collaborating with a team towards a defined goal. Concretely, you will have the opportunity to:
• Join one of ten RRiA project teams, based on your interests and expertise.
• Work in teams of up to 20 participants representing a mix of disciplines, backgrounds and career stages.
• Co-develop practical outputs like toolkits, recommendations, frameworks, white papers etc.
In order to facilitate this interactivity, this event is in-person only. The working language is English.
RRiA Projects
Ten projects were selected by the Programme Organizing Committee from submissions to a competitive international call. These projects aim to tackle real challenges in research practice. Projects cover a range of topics from reproducibility and preregistration to funding and research assessment reform.
You can view the full list of RRiA Projects HERE.
RRiA Project Teams
The Project Team Leaders are researchers from various countries, backgrounds and career stages whose project ideas were selected by the Programme Organizing Committee. They will each lead a collaborative group focused on exploring and developing their proposed topic throughout the RRiA Unconference 2025.
Joining the Project Team Leaders, the Unconference will welcome around 150 participants to each contribute to one selected project.
Who should join?
We invite scientists at all career stages: early-career, mid-career and senior researchers as well as other stakeholders involved in any aspect of research, such as project managers, funders, publishers, editors, regulators and other members of research institutions, to join the Unconference and to actively contribute to the RRiA projects.
RRiA Pre-Conference Workshops (Optional)
On September 22, 2 - 5pm, we’ll offer interactive workshops for those who want to build skills in leading and contributing to projects to improve research practice.
Topics include:
- Change Management for Transforming Research Culture
- Design Thinking
- How to use Principles of Behaviour Change in Improving Research Culture
Find the list of RRiA Pre-conference Workshops HERE.
Workshops are optional and free of charge for registered participants, but space is limited - reserve yours early! You will receive a link with the option to book a workshop after you have registered for the Unconference.
Registration
Once you’ve found the project that best matches your interest and expertise, you’ll be able to register for that specific team. Watch the explanatory project videos and go to the single project registration sites HERE.
Keep in mind that by signing up for a project, you are committing to work with that team throughout the duration of the Unconference. To ensure continuity and team cohesion, it is not possible to switch between projects during the event.
Registration deadline: Sunday, August 3rd at 23:59 CEST
Registration Fees
Please note that the Unconference is a non-profit, community-driven event. To help cover venue, meals, and materials, we charge a reduced participation fee of 200 € for students and PhD candidates, and 300 € for all other participants.
This includes coffee breaks, lunches, the welcome reception, and the conference dinner as well as a limited number of pre-conference workshop spots.
Travel & Accommodation
Participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging. Please book early - the Berlin Marathon takes place shortly before the Unconference, and hotels will fill up fast.
Venue address
Charité - Campus Virchow Klinikum (CVK)
Forum 3
Augustenburger Platz 1
13353 Berlin
Google Maps link
Coordinates: 52°32'27.8"N 13°20'23.7"E
How To Get There
The nearest metro station is Amrumer Strasse (U-Bahn line U9).
To plan your journey, visit the official BVG Berlin public transport website and enter your point of arrival in Berlin to find the best route.
The venue and plenty of hotels are located in the city transportation zones A/B. For better orientation, see the BVG maps HERE.
Please note that the Berlin airport lies within the zone C. For single travels from the airport to the venue or back, you will need a single ABC ticket. Alternatively, if you already have e.g. a one-day AB ticket, you may buy only an “extension” ticket (Anschlusskarte), to “add” the zone C to your AB ticket, see HERE.
After the event: Outlook
The Responsible Research in Action Unconference will also include opportunities for cross-pollination and networking among different projects. At the culminating session, each group will briefly present what they accomplished, including challenges, outputs created during the Unconference, and plans for further work after the event, including:
• Sharing their outputs on the Open Science Framework (OSF)
• Creating a brief project summary video
• Planning next steps for wider implementation or further development
