As the PATTERN project comes to an end in June 2026, it leaves behind a reminder for Europe’s research community: open and responsible research does not happen by accident. It needs to be learned, practised, supported and recognised.
For three and a half years, PATTERN (Piloting open and responsible Activities and Trainings Towards the Enhancement of Researchers Network) worked to bring Open and Responsible Research and Innovation into the everyday professional lives of researchers. Funded by Horizon Europe, the project set out with a clear ambition: to equip researchers at all stages of their careers with transferable skills that can strengthen research excellence, improve science-society relations and help Higher Education Institutions and Research Performing Organisations embrace meaningful cultural change.
This ambition could not be more relevant. Today, researchers are expected not only to produce high-quality knowledge, but also to share it openly, manage data responsibly, engage citizens, communicate with clarity, uphold the highest standards of integrity, address inclusion, and think about the wider impact of their work. These expectations are not peripheral to science. They are becoming part of what good science means.
PATTERN understood this from the beginning. The project translated Open RRI into concrete learning paths, practical resources and institutional conversations. Its work was structured around eight transferable skill areas: Open Access; FAIR Data Management; Citizen Science; Research Integrity; Gender Equality Non-Discrimination and Inclusion: With and Within Research; Dissemination and Exploitation of Research Results; Science Communication and Mental health leadership for early career researchers.
The project started by listening and mapping. More than 500 existing Open RRI training resources were analysed, together with more than 200 policies addressing Open RRI training. This was not simply an exercise in collecting information. It was a way of understanding what already existed, where gaps remained, and how future training could better respond to researchers’ real needs.
Importantly, this mapping became part of PATTERN’s practical legacy through the Digital Workbook on Open RRI trainings, a tool created to help researchers, trainers and institutions navigate the hundreds of resources identified by the project. In that sense, the Digital Workbook is more than a repository. It is a compass for anyone trying to understand the Open RRI training landscape and find resources that can be adapted, reused and built upon.
From this evidence base, PATTERN moved into co-design, piloting, evaluation and policy development, creating a bridge between individual learning and institutional transformation.
During its learning cycles, researchers engaged with topics that are often seen as complex or demanding. They explored how to publish openly and understand rights retention; how to apply FAIR principles to research data; how to involve citizens in meaningful and inclusive ways; how to communicate science to media and policymakers; how to approach research integrity through real-life dilemmas; and how to design research environments that are more inclusive, ethical and supportive. The first learning cycle already showed strong signs of impact. It reached 561 participants, mostly PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, and achieved high satisfaction, with 87% rating their learning experience as good or excellent. Participants valued the practical exercises, case-based learning and opportunities to apply concepts to their own contexts. They also asked for more advanced content, showing that the appetite for this kind of training is not only real, but growing.
The results for the project speak for themselves. As the second learning cycle ended, PATTERN delivered in total more than 190 training sessions across 14 pilot organisations and trained more than 5.800 researchers in Open RRI transferable skills. Its digital ecosystem also gained significant traction, with over 23.000 visits to Projects from 46 countries, more than 200 Projects created, and more than 1.100 enrolments on OpenPlato. On the policy side, the project produced three Policy Briefs, three policy podcast episodes and reached more than 260 organisations.
Behind these numbers is a more important achievement: PATTERN helped make Open RRI feel practical, accessible and relevant.
This is one of PATTERN’s most important lessons: researchers want to do open and responsible research, but they need the time, tools, recognition and institutional support to do it well.
That is why the project’s policy work matters so much. The first PATTERN Policy Brief looked at the policy landscape for Open RRI training at European, national and institutional levels. It showed that, although progress is visible, major gaps remain. Policies often recognise the importance of Open RRI, but do not always provide the detailed guidance, sustainable funding, monitoring mechanisms or recognition frameworks needed to make training a consistent part of research careers. The brief also highlighted the need for a more holistic approach, one that connects Open Access, FAIR data, Research Integrity, Citizen Science, inclusion, leadership, communication and exploitation instead of treating them as separate islands.
The second PATTERN Policy Brief moved from diagnosis to institutional adoption. Drawing on the first learning cycle and co-creation through Open Studio workshops, it made a strong case for embedding Open RRI training into academic curricula, doctoral and postdoctoral programmes, and institutional strategies. It called for accreditation pathways, micro-credentials, digital badges, persona-based learning paths, inclusive and multilingual materials, and the strategic reuse of training resources. Perhaps most importantly, it underlined that Open RRI training should not be seen as an optional extra. If Europe wants researchers to practise openness and responsibility, these skills must be formally valued. This is where the opinion becomes clear: Europe does not lack good intentions when it comes to Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation. What it often lacks are the structures that make those intentions count. PATTERN has shown that training can be one of those structures, but only if institutions recognise it, integrate it and sustain it beyond project funding.
This is where the opinion becomes clear: Europe does not lack good intentions when it comes to Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation. What it often lacks are the structures that make those intentions count. PATTERN has shown that training can be one of those structures, but only if institutions recognise it, integrate it and sustain it beyond project funding.
This message was strongly reflected in PATTERN’s final event, PATTERNs of Change: Building an Open and Responsible Future for European Research, held in Brussels in April 2026. The event brought together policymakers, research organisations, SMEs and EU-funded projects to reflect on how Open RRI can be scaled across Europe, not only by celebrating what works, but also by honestly discussing what does not.
The programme captured the spirit of the project. The morning focused on policy-oriented sessions, including a High-Level Policy Roundtable on aligning researchers’ needs with EU-driven policies to scale up Open RRI practices. The afternoon opened space for exchange with sister projects through a Story Slam format, where projects were invited to share unsuccessful stories, failed approaches and lessons learned. This was followed by a poster session and networking, creating a space for visibility, dialogue and reuse.
That choice of format says something important about PATTERN. Open and responsible research is not about pretending that everything works perfectly. It is about creating the conditions to learn, adapt and improve. It is about moving from polished success stories to honest learning stories.
For those who could not attend, or for those who want to revisit the atmosphere and key discussions, the PATTERN final event After Movie captures the energy of the day. The full footage of the policy roundtable also remains available, offering a valuable resource for anyone interested in the policy conditions needed to scale Open RRI practices across Europe.
But the strongest way to celebrate PATTERN is not only to look back. It is to use what the project has created.
The project’s legacy is openly accessible through the PATTERN trainings and the full collection of PATTERN training materials. These resources are designed to support researchers, trainers, research support staff and institutions that want to continue developing Open RRI skills. They are a practical entry point for doctoral schools, research offices, libraries, universities, research organisations and EU-funded projects looking to embed openness and responsibility into their own training offers.
The digital ecosystem, including OpenPlato and Projects, also remains an important part of this legacy. It supports both independent learning and project-based learning, helping users access materials, explore resources and continue the mutual learning process beyond the project’s formal end. This matters because the end of a European project should never be the end of its impact.
As PATTERN concludes, Europe’s research system faces a choice. Open and responsible research can remain a set of principles we celebrate in policy documents, or it can become a set of skills we teach, reward and embed in practice. PATTERN has helped show the way towards the second path.
Its success lies not only in the scale of what it delivered, but in the culture it helped nurture: a culture where researchers are better prepared to work openly, ethically, inclusively and with society in mind.
The project may be ending, but the PATTERN it leaves behind is clear. If Europe wants research that is excellent, trustworthy and connected to societal needs, it must invest in the people who make that research possible. It must train them. It must support them. And, crucially, it must recognise the value of the skills that make science more open, responsible and impactful.
PATTERN has done more than pilot training. It has worked to strengthen a vision for the future of research in Europe: one where openness and responsibility are not optional extras, but part of the everyday practice of excellent science.
