Science Shop Leiden

The Science Shop set up by Leiden University has a strong focus on citizen science and consists of two approaches: One for the local community in the vicinity of the University (known as the Citizen Science Lab, CSLab) and one for communities that traditionally don’t have access to research capacity or facilities (known as Open Science Hubs, OSHubs) (see figure below). 

The Citizen Science Lab brings together researchers, citizens and societal organisations to co-develop innovative research projects that create new knowledge. The OSHubs connect science, technology and innovation with the daily life of local and regional communities, by addressing community relevant challenges, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders. OSHub is a EU H2020-funded network with 9 partners across Europe aimed at establishing collaborative co-creation hubs, based on Open Standards, near social and/or geographical borders throughout Europe. OSHub-Portugal, inaugurated in July 2017, arose as the first hub of this network, in a partnership between Leiden University and the Municipality of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo. The network will expand to 8 European countries (including the Netherlands) by 2022, as part of the EU-H2020 project.

Business model 

The implementation of SciShops.eu by Leiden University is being done by the Astronomy & Society Group and Department of Science Communication and Society. In terms of coordination, the CSLab is managed by Liselotte Rambonnet and Matthijs Begheyn and supervised by Pedro Russo, Frans Snik, Anne Land-Zandstra and Margaret Gold. The OSHub-Portugal is managed by Maria Vicente and supervised by Pedro Russo.

The projects from the CSLab are mostly coordinated by project managers and researchers from the university or partners of the CSLab in close collaboration with students, citizens, the municipality and relevant organisations. The first pilot projects are funded by Leiden University and the Municipality of Leiden. Because these are part of the activities that Leiden University support to celebrate its 444 years of existence, together with the city. 

OSHub-Portugal is composed of a team of project managers with scientific backgrounds, together with a team from the Municipality of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo with diverse technical backgrounds. Each project manager leads a project but there are also projects co-led by all, and key decisions are made by the entire team. OSHub-Portugal has a direct relationship with the Mayor and works in strict collaboration with the school group of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo.

Activity to date

444 Project

In 2019 the CSLab started a Community Based Participatory Research pilot project, supporting citizens and researchers who have a research question that can be answered with citizen science. For this, the CSLab asked the residents, researchers and societal organisations of Leiden and the Hague what questions they want to answer. In total, the Lab received over 50 questions from researchers, societal organisations and residents. A jury selected two projects (plastics and psychology), which are now being carried out. Read more about the competition in this news article.

Co-creation events

In 2018, the Citizen Science Lab organised three workshops which brought together stakeholders on specific themes, namely  air pollution; archaeology; and languages and cultures. During four to five days various stakeholders, policymakers, governmental and societal organisations and researchers developed ideas for citizen science projects to answer important questions in their field.