Data about mass violence can seem to offer insights into patterns: is violence getting better, or worse, over time? Is violence directed more against men or women? But in human rights data collection, we (usually) don’t know what we don’t know – and worse, what we don’t know is likely to be systematically different from what we do know.

Join us for a conversation with Lord McConnell, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development, House of Lords, including q&a on priority areas for the implementation of the SDGs.

Lord (Jack) McConnell was First Minister of Scotland, 2001–07. He has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2010. He is a leading campagner on tackling global poverty and working for peace.

We study the economic effects of local democracy, exploiting a natural experiment in Karnataka, India. The COVID-induced suspension of elections generated quasi-random variation in democratic rule, as villages whose elected leader completed their term in 2020 had bureaucrats appointed to govern them throughout the pandemic. We find that local democracy aligns spending more with citizen preferences, but is less responsive to the preferences of disadvantaged groups. Elected leaders are more responsive to citizen needs and cause local bureaucrats to exert more effort.

What do we mean when we characterise certain events, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, or the spreading of a new mutation of COVID as necessary or inevitable? Conversely, what do we mean when judging these to be contingent, supposing they could have turned out differently (if only ...)? These familiar notions sound beguilingly unproblematic; indeed, they pervade common thinking about determinism and chance.

Climate change is a crucial issue globally. There are many departments and groups across the University of Oxford that focus on fundamental areas of research to help support change and development, with experts in their fields contributing to key discussions, studies, and policy – resulting in a wealth of publications and research outputs. How can Open Access and Open Data be used to support, inform and shape the future? Short lightning presentations will focus on how discovery, access and re-use of research and research data can help to better inform key areas of Climate Research.

Research data management is becoming increasingly important in research, both to ensure funder compliance, but also as part of best practice for research; with the potential to increase reach, impact and, for open data, re-use. But ‘data’ in the Humanities may be difficult to define. This panel discussion will delve into research data in various discipline-specific contexts, looking at how research data are defined and how to manage research data effectively.

What you will need:

During this forum speakers from Bodleian Open Scholarship Support and across Oxford will discuss current changes in the field of open scholarship. Including subjects like data, open access, open monographs, copyright and more. It is advised that attendees of the forum have previously attended the Fundamentals and Logistics courses to improve understanding.

Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open.

Intended Audience: Researchers, other academic staff, administrative staff, library staff, all Oxford students including post-graduate, and members of the OUH Trust.