GW4 Open Research Week 2026

The third annual GW4 Open Research Week returns from 20–24 April 2026, with Cardiff University taking the lead this year. The week-long celebration will showcase the many ways open research practices make scholarship more accessible, transparent, reproducible and visible.

We’ve put together a packed programme of online events, welcoming speakers from GW4 and beyond, offering policy and practical insights and real-world examples of how to embed open practices across the community.

Whether you are new to open research, already embedding open practices in your work, or simply curious to learn more, GW4 Open Research Week 2026 is open to everyone and offers opportunities to connect, learn and contribute to a more open and inclusive research culture.

Check out the timetable, below:

GW4 Open Research Week 2026 Events Timetable

GW4 Open Research Week 2026 Keynote: The joint contributions of open science and research assessment reform to research culture (Monday 20th April, 13:00 -13:45, Online)

The value of being open: improving and expanding practices in the arts, humanities and social sciences (Tuesday 21st April, 11:00-12:00, Online)

Open practices and methodologies in research design to support reproducibility (Tuesday 21st April, 13:00-14:00, Online)

GW4 Open Research Prize 2026: Awards Event (Wednesday 22nd April, 12:00-14:30, Online)

Rewarding open research from policy to practice (Thursday 23rd April, 14:00 -15:15, Online)

The Hidden REF: Creating the momentum and evidence for research assessment change (Friday 24th April, 11:00-12:00, Online)

Promotional graphic for GW4 Open Research Prize. It shows logos of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter. The background is navy, with brightly coloured pink arrows.

GW4 Open Research Prize 2026 – Winners announced in April!

Entries to this year’s GW4 Open Research Prize are now closed.

The winners will be announced at a virtual awards event on Wednesday 22 April, held as part of this year’s Open Research Week. The event is open to all, with interested in attending able to register via the event registration linked in the timetable above.

The 2026 GW4 Open Research Prizes celebrate researchers who have embedded open practices throughout their work, helping to make research more accessible, transparent and reproducible. A prize of £250 will be awarded for each category.

To highlight the importance of open research across all stages of a research career, this year’s prizes include separate categories for Early Career Researchers and Research Enablers. All applications will be judged against the same criteria, with weighting adjusted where appropriate for each prize category.

A shortlist will be confirmed by the end of March 2026, and shortlisted applicants will be invited to share a short summary of their work—either as a pre‑recorded video or a live presentation—during the virtual awards event.