Extended mission and new name for the CRS
Quality of research and the reliability of scientific findings are the focus of the Center for Reproducible Science (CRS) since 2018. The CRS is now being transformed to a new Center for Reproducible Science and Research Synthesis (CRS) and made permanent.
Reproducible Science and Research Synthesis
Quality of research and the reliability of scientific findings are the focus of the Center for Reproducible Science (CRS) since 2018. Building on its achievements in reproducible research, Open Science and meta-research, the Center for Reproducible Science is now being transformed and renamed to Center for Reproducible Science and Research Synthesis (CRS), and made permanent with funding from the TRANSFORM funding stream and three UZH faculties (MeF, RWF, WWF).
‘We want to bring together the two areas of reproducibility and research synthesis,’ says Leonhard Held, Professor of Biostatistics at UZH and founding director of the original Center for Reproducible Science. Both approaches are important for assessing the quality and validity of scientific findings. ByResearch synthesis we mean the systematic collection, assessment and integration of scientific evidence from heterogeneous data, methods and research designs across disciplines. For example, nowadays underlying data is increasingly being made available alongside the published studies. This opens up new possibilities for comparing and combining studies: ‘Instead of just collating and evaluating study findings, as in a classic meta-analysis, we can go straight back to the raw data’ says Held. Research at the CRS will develop methods to integrate data and evidence from heterogeneous sources across different methodologies.
A second focus at the CRS is developing meta-research methods to properly summarize existing evidence, identify gaps, blind spots, and opportunities for future research, and to assess the quality, transparency and reproducibility of a body of research.
The goal of the CRS's approach is to benefit researchers at UZH from all fields. Although the CRS is based within the Faculty of Medicine, the topic is truly interdisciplinary. The same methods can often be used in various disciplines, and the disciplines can learn from each other. The CRS will also continue to run courses and trainings for early-career researchers from all disciplines.
Additional information is available in ourMission statement and at theUZH News website.