The Open Science Awards ceremony took place on December 1st, 2025, at Université Paris-Saclay, during the National Research Data Conference (ANDOR 2025). The event sought to bring together all national stakeholders involved in “the fields of management, sharing, opening, and reuse of research data across academia, services, and industry”.
An Award Aligned with the National Open Science Plan
As emphasized by the ministry that initiated it, the “Open Science Awards for Research Data, Open-Source Research Software”, and the Thesis are part of the second National Open Science Plan, launched by the French government in 2018, with an objective is to “freely disseminate the results, methods, and outputs of scientific research”.
This dissemination “builds on the opportunities offered by the digital transformation to develop open access to publications and, whenever possible, to data, source codes, and research methods”. The ministry describes this process as a lasting transformation designed to make open science “a common and shared practice, encouraged by the entire international ecosystem of higher education, research, and innovation”.
Three Major Award Categories
Within this framework, several awards were launched this year:
- the Prix des données de la recherche, Research Data Award, which highlights researchers, projects, and research teams “engaged in the management and dissemination of research data”;
- the Prix du logiciel libre de recherche, Open-Source Research Software Award, which promotes projects and research teams working “on the development and dissemination of open-source software” and contributing to the creation of a “public good of major importance”;
- the Prix science ouverte de la thèse, Open Science Thesis Award, which complements the two previous awards and aims to encourage and showcase open science practices among doctoral students.
Three Alumnae Among the Eight Laureates
Introduced for the first time in 2024, the Prix science ouverte de la thèse recognizes “theses in which open science practices have contributed to the quality of the scientific work”, as noted by the ministry.
In total, eight laureates were honoured across four thematic categories. Among them, three doctoral candidates are alumnae:
- In the Medicine and Health Biology category, Eduarda Gervini Zampieri Centeno, a Brazilian alumna, completed part of her studies at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas (Rio Grande do Sul) and then at the University of Bordeaux (as well as in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands). She was awarded for her 2024 thesis on “Sleep in Songbirds”, defended in the field of neuroscience at the University of Bordeaux.
- In the Science and Technology category, Anne Josiane Kouam, an alumna of Cameroonian origin, studied at the National Advanced School of Engineering of Yaoundé and later at Institut Polytechnique de Paris, where she earned her PhD in 2023. Her thesis was entitled: “Bypass in Cellular Networks: Understanding and Mitigation”.
- In the Multidisciplinary and Cross-Cutting category, Saray Valentina Chavez Colmenares, a specialist in source control of stormwater management, is an alumna of Venezuelan origin. She completed her studies in Venezuela (at Universidad Yacambú and Universidad Centro Occidental), then in France at Université Marie et Louis Pasteur (Besançon), and pursued her doctorate at the University of Technology of Compiègne. Her thesis, defended in 2024, focused on urban planning and development.