Open Research Training for Health Science PhDs

Presenter: Ruth Geraghty

Research Data Coordinator, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

In 2025, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences piloted our first open research (OR) module with a cohort of PhD students. During curriculum development, we reviewed existing OR training from Ireland and further afield. There are contextual factors to achieving openness in the health sciences that warranted a tailored approach to OR training for postgraduates. For example, health scientists frequently work with sensitive personal data and data from unique populations, they work with third-party data gathered during the delivery of health care; and with data that is commercially sensitive.

I will present an overview of RCSI’s Open Research postgraduate module, which was piloted as an optional module from January to June 2025. I will describe how the global topic of OR was interpreted to RCSI’s local context, and how our training aligns with other national training initiatives. Our approach was to involve colleagues from areas not typically associated with OR, to demonstrate the spread of OR activity across the university, so that OR is not seen as belonging to one type of science only. We also wanted to explore with the students the ways in which areas that are sometimes seen as conflicting with OR can successfully coexist.

About

Ruth Geraghty is Research Data Coordinator at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) where she provides staff and students with education and training in open research. In 2024/25 Ruth designed and piloted RCSI’s first postgraduate module in open research for health scientists. Ruth is a committee member of the Sonraí Irish Data Stewardship Network, and Advisory Group member for QSA*Net.