Events
Past Events
20/Jun/2025
Meta-Science Summer School: Designing and Conducting Studies to Improve Research
This summer school brought together early career researchers from across disciplines for a hands-on introduction to meta-research, the science of how we do science.
Organized in cooperation between the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), the German Reproducibility Network (GRN), the META REP Priority Program, iRise, and the EXCELScIOR project at the University of Coimbra, the course took place from 15 to 20 June 2025 near Frankfurt, Germany.
Throughout the week, participants worked in small interdisciplinary teams to design and begin collecting data for original meta-research studies. Under the guidance of international experts, including Dr. Tracey Weissgerber, the school offered both conceptual frameworks and practical tools to improve research quality and reproducibility. Several participants are expected to continue developing their projects toward publication.
This immersive experience highlighted the value of collaborative, cross-disciplinary approaches to strengthening research integrity.
20/Jun/2025
Public Seminar: Meta-Research at the University of Coimbra
On June 20, 2025, the University of Coimbra had the privilege of hosting Professor John Ioannidis for an engaging seminar on peer review and research evaluation in science.
Professor Ioannidis, ERA Chair holder of the EXCELScIOR project and a world-renowned expert in meta-research and evidence-based medicine, presented his talk titled “Peer Review and Evaluation in Science: Utopia, Problems and Solutions”. He shared deep insights into the challenges faced by current peer review systems and proposed pathways for enhancing research quality and transparency.
The seminar was attended by around 25 participants and sparked thoughtful discussions, inspiring new ideas on how to improve scientific assessment practices.
Held at the UC Biotech – Auditório Euclides Pires, this event was a valuable moment for advancing the conversation on research quality.
Location:
UC Biotech – Auditório Euclides Pires
University of Coimbra
Organized by:
EXCELScIOR | CNC-UC | CIBB
6/Jun/2025
Public Seminar: Meta-Research at the University of Coimbra
This public seminar brought together two international experts to discuss key challenges and opportunities in advancing transparency and quality in scientific research.
Thomas Feliciani (Politecnico di Milano) presented “Bias in Grant Review Panels: Roots and Remedies”, offering insights into structural biases and potential solutions within funding processes.
Priya Silverstein (Ashland University, USA) delivered a talk on “On Replication Studies”, exploring the role of replication in strengthening the credibility and robustness of scientific findings.
Held at the CNC-UC Auditorium, this event sparked valuable discussions on improving peer review, promoting reproducibility, and advancing meta-research practices in diverse fields.
Location:
CNC-UC Auditorium, 2nd Floor, Polo I – University of Coimbra
Organized by:
EXCELScIOR | CNC-UC | CIBB
19-23/May/2025
Advanced Course: Experimental Research Design & Responsible Research Practices (Part II)
This hands-on advanced course, part of the PhD Programme in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine (PDBEB), focused on applying responsible research practices directly to participants’ own research projects.
With support from experienced instructors, students practiced key skills such as:
– Applying reporting guidelines
– Using Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs)
– Drafting reusable, step-by-step protocols
– Writing methodological shortcut citations responsibly
– Communicating study limitations effectively
– Improving data visualization
– Specifying author contributions with the CRediT taxonomy
– Creating and updating an ORCID profile
The course was coordinated by Teresa Cunha Oliveira, Ana I. Duarte, Elsa Henriques, John Ioannidis, Paulo Matafome, and Tracey Weissgerber.
Instructors:
– Tracey Weissgerber – EXCELScIOR ERA Chair Team Leader, Invited Research Coordinator, CIBB, CNC, University of Coimbra
– René Bernard – Value and Open Science Coordinator, NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, Berlin, Germany
Location:
iiiUC – Casa Costa Alemão, Polo II & Department of Physics, Polo I, University of Coimbra
12, 19, 26/Feb and 5, 12/March/2025
Workshop Series: ReproducibiliTeach – Strategies to Make Your Research More Transparent, Robust & Reproducible
This hands-on virtual workshop series, co-organized by the QUEST Center and NeuroCure, guided participants in identifying and addressing common issues that impact the transparency and reproducibility of research.
Following a flipped-classroom model, participants watched recorded lectures in advance and then joined interactive sessions where they applied what they learned to their own work. Instructors offered feedback and support as participants explored practices for improving methodological rigor and fostering a culture of reproducibility.
By the end of the course, participants had implemented key strategies in their own research and were prepared to share these practices within their labs and institutions.
📊 The workshop series welcomed 21 participants.
Dates:
12 February, 19 February, 26 February, 5 March, 12 March 2025
Time: 16:00–17:30 (UTC+1)
Location: Online via Zoom
Organizers:
QUEST Center (Berlin Institute of Health @ Charité)
NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence
University of Coimbra, Portugal
24-28/Feb/2025
Virtual Workshops: Love Methods Week
This week-long series of online workshops focused on enhancing the robustness, transparency, and reproducibility of research methods. Participants explored why clear, reusable methods are critical for reproducibility, responsible data reuse, and overall research quality.
Approximately 175 people attended the event, engaging in hands-on sessions and webinars to learn how to:
– Write and share step-by-step protocols in public repositories
– Peer-review method sections
– Design and pre-register in vivo and in vitro study protocols
– Prepare methods for peer-reviewed publication
– Improve reproducibility through better methodological reporting
The event emphasized that methods are among the most valuable research outputs—frequently reused and cited even more than data—and central to the FAIR data movement.
Location: In-person in Berlin (QUEST Center) and online
23/Jan/2025
Public Seminar: Collaborative Open-Science and Meta-Research (CORE): Insights from Coordinating an International Team Aiming to Better Understand and Improve Science by Prof. Gilad Feldman from the University of Hong Kong.
Prof. Feldman presented how the CORE project, a global collaboration with early-career researchers and students, advances open and reproducible science. Key topics included, metascience and research evaluation, open and collaborative research practices, registered reports and overcoming bias, integrating research with education and connecting with the scientific community.
Around 15 participants were present in this seminar, held at the University of Coimbra (CNC auditorium – Polo I).
Watch the presentation here.
Access slides & resources here.
09/Jul/2024
Interactive workshop:
Using RRIDs and CRediT author contributions statements to improve transparency by Prof. Tracey Weissgerber from the QUEST Center, Berlin Institute of Health @ Charité, Germany.
Exploring RRIDs available for cell lines, model organisms (e.g. mice), antibodies, plasmids, software and tools, and core facilities and learn how to apply them to the different research lines. Gain a deeper understanding of how to write a CRediT authorship statement for an ongoing research project.
Support data: Video on using RRIDs.
Around 35 participants were present in this public workshop, held at the University of Coimbra (CNC – UC-Biotech auditorium).
15/May/2024
BEB Day 2024 – “(Not) Knowing what comes next: Tools for the Research of Tomorrow”
John P. A. Ioannidis, Professor at Stanford University and EXCELScIOR ERA Chair holder gave a public seminar entitled “AI use in biomedical research: methods, transparency, limitations, and ethics.”
Around 30 participants were in this event, organized by the Doctoral Programme in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine (PDBEB) students, and held at the ‘Pavilhão Centro de Portugal’, in Coimbra.
14/May/2024
Public Seminar:
Peer review and scientific publication: present and future by John P. A. Ioannidis, Professor at Stanford University and EXCELScIOR ERA Chair holder.
Around 27 participants were present in this public seminar, held at the University of Coimbra (CNC – UC-Biotech auditorium).
13/May/2024
Importance of measuring the quality and impact of science to maximize the impact of
open and reliable science in society
Integrated in the PhD Programme in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine (PDBEB).
By Prof. John Ioannidis, Full Professor at Stanford University, USA, and EXCELScIOR ERA Chair holder.
Prof. John Ioannidis participated in the inaugural session of the advanced course “An Introduction on Science of Science”, led by Dr. David Pina from the European Commission.
Around 22 PDBEB students attended this seminar at the University of Coimbra (CNC – Polo 1 auditorium).
22/Apr/2024
Interactive data visualization workshop: How to identify and fix common problems
Integrated in the Doctoral Course “ONE HEALTH: A Metabolic Approach from the Cell to Society”
By Prof. Tracey Weissgerber from the QUEST Center, Berlin Institute of Health @ Charité, Germany.
Around 40 participants were present in this public seminar, held at the University of Coimbra (CNC – Polo I auditorium).
06/Feb/2024
Meta-Research seminars:
Forecasting experimental results with ChatGPT by Prof. Thomas Pfeiffer from NZ Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University;
and
Reveal, don’t conceal:
Improving transparency, trustworthiness and reusability in research publications by Dr. Tracey Weissgerber from Berlin Institute of Health @Charité.
These two public seminars were held at the University of Coimbra – Student Hub – with the participation of 15 people.
Seminar poster.
07/Dec/2023
Annual Cochrane Portugal Meeting. Professor John Ioannidis gave a public seminar on systematic reviews and umbrella reviews, shedding light on evidence synthesis. Dr. Paulo Oliveira delved into the ERA Chair EXCELScIOR project, exploring the ‘science of science’ to unravel the quality and real-world impact of research.
The event was held at Polo II – University of Coimbra on December 7th 2023, with the participation of ca. 75 people.
Event on the press (PT) here.
23-27/Oct/2023
Experimental Science Design
Advanced course integrated in the PhD Programme in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine (PDBEB).
This course was organized by EXCELScIOR team members, namely Elsa Henriques, EXCELScIOR Co-Coordinator, Teresa Cunha-Oliveira, EXCELScIOR Assistant Researcher and John Ioannidis, Professor at Stanford University and EXCELScIOR ERA Chair holder.
This course provided an overview of several critical issues in Experimental Design in the 21st century, including the most recent advances on the scientific method, design of experiments, the replication crisis, scientific integrity, data management and publication policies. Also, it provided a focused approach on the concepts and tools used in biostatistics and data visualization, as well as, it discussed the challenges posed by big data.
Around 20 PhD students attended this course at the University of Coimbra.
More info and full program here.
19/Jun/2023
Can we trust meta-analyses in psychology? Real-life meaning of the heterogeneity of effects. Prof. Kinga Bierwiaczonek from the University of Oslo, gave a public seminar at the University of Coimbra – Colégio das Artes – with the participation of 16 people.
Seminar poster.
18/May/2023
Using Unbiased Many-Teams Replication Data to Evaluate Meta-Analytic Estimators. Dr. Amanda Kvarven from Stanford University, gave a public seminar at the Student Hub – University of Coimbra, with the participation of 11 people.
Seminar poster.
26/Apr/2023
Public seminar by Prof. John Ioannidis, under the the topic “Evaluating research practices and the academic reward system” was held at the University of Coimbra – Colégio da Trindade – with the participation of 40 people.
Seminar poster.
