Mgr. Ondřej Mottl, Ph.D.












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            Department of Botany

            Faculty of Science 

            ORCID: 0000-0002-9796-5081 [ URL "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9796-5081"]

            GitHub: OndrejMott [ URL "https://github.com/OndrejMottl/"]
            Twitter: @OndrejMottl [ URL "https://twitter.com/OndrejMottl"]





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            * What led you to open science, and how did your relationship with open science develop?
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            Open science was a natural next step in my scientific journey. However, I must admit that 
            engage more deeply with this topic only during my postdoctoral experience in Norway. This 
            connected to the fact that I had transitioned to being a data-focused researcher, and I wa

            generating ‘primary’ data, as I did during my PhD when I researched tropical ants and acti
            them on several continents. 
            The more I delved into the topic of open science, the clearer it became how fundamental th

            to me. Even during my postdoctoral tenure, I started organizing workshops focused on repro
            science, and I continue to do so now at Charles University, where I lead workshops and hav
            new course for students called “SPROuT – Science Powered through Reproducibility, Openness

            Currently, my research is based on reusing already published data, and I contribute to thi
            publishing software that facilitates their analysis. Open science (including open data and
            thus literally become a daily practice for me. 





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            * What do you get out of open science on a daily basis?
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            I actively engage with many aspects of open science, with a particular focus on analyzing 
            patterns over time and space using already published data. Open Data is a key theme for me
            data availability for research. It is incredibly frustrating when I discover that interest

            studying vegetation trends exist but are not publicly accessible. 
            I develop software, mainly R packages, that facilitate the analysis of trends in ecology. 
            freely available under the MIT license. My goal is to lower barriers in science and enable

            are not statistics experts to easily analyze their data. 
            Reproducibility in science is a very personal topic for me, both as an author of scientifi
            a reviewer of other scientific manuscripts. As I mentioned, I lead workshops where I share

            tools to facilitate this process. 
            Open science is not a dogma for me but rather a path that everyone chooses according to th
            part of my development, I also started publishing my results in the form of preprints. 





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            * Why is openness in science important to you (what are the benefits)?
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            In my opinion, openness in science is the only way forward. Open science practices acceler
            progress. We are currently in the midst of a so-called ‘reproducibility crisis’ in science
            reproducibility through open science is, in my view, a clear step forward.





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            * What would you recommend to colleagues who want to use open science principles for their
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            Definitely don’t be afraid to try. Practicing open science is a journey, and each of us is
            stage of it. My personal goal is to ensure that every project is more open than the one be
            thing is that if you are unsure about certain practices, information is publicly available

            reach out to the Center for the Support of Open Science here at Charles University. 




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            * In your opinion, what obstacles must one overcome so that open science can become common

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            Honestly, I think the situation is improving, and the overall mindset in science is gradua
            – we are talking about a so-called ‘open science revolution.’ But it takes time. There is 

            improve, for instance, in terms of thecommercialization of scientific journal publishing u
            of ‘Open Access’ or the peer review process of grant agencies. These areas themselves pres
            challenges. 





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            * What does open science mean to you in one sentence?
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            Open science represents a transformation of mindset that is essential for progress in scie