A Glimpse into the SORTEE 2025 Conference

The 2025 SORTEE conference once again brought together researchers from all career stages, all levels of experience in open science, and from nearly every time zone. It featured 19 interactive sessions over more than 24 hours in a single continuous Zoom meeting, from Wednesday 15 October at 7:00 am UTC to Thursday 16 October at 10:00 am UTC. All of the sessions shared a common goal: to make research in ecology, evolutionary biology, and related fields more open, transparent, and reliable!

Attendees were far from passive spectators — they participated in lively unconference¹ discussions, started collaborative projects during hackathons², and learnt new practices in workshops. Additionally, participants were inspired by the plenary talks given by Israel Borokini and Simine Vazire, while newcomers were introduced to open science with dedicated sessions. Attendees were also fortunate to be the first to discover the winners of the SORTEE 2025 Commendation Award during the conference closing remarks!

“I really liked the different sessions and how they provided complementary insights on open science and reproducibility. I liked that I learned a lot, but also to see that some tools or practices that I use were adopted and validated by the wider community" A comment from an attendee of the SORTEE 2025 Conference.

As in previous SORTEE conferences, what stood out was the strong sense of community and shared purpose. Many participants were eager to stay involved – 20 new members joined SORTEE within a week after the conference! The SORTEE community continues to grow, not just as a conference, but as a movement toward open science.

“Thank you for your organization and hard work. I really enjoy being part of this community, but I hope I could get to participate more actively in future events!" A comment from an attendee of the SORTEE 2025 Conference.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the next SORTEE conference! Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates – we send a maximum of 8 emails a year.

The SORTEE 2025 Conference in Numbers

At the SORTEE 2025 conference, there were:

• 272 registrants
• A maximum of 71 people connected at the same time!
• 38 countries represented

We had:

• 7 unconferences¹
• 5 hackathons²
• 3 workshops
• 2 plenary talks
• 2 introductions to open science
• 2 social mixers

Over the 36 participants who answered the feedback form:

• 100% mostly or fully enjoyed the sessions’ quality and topic, and were satisfied with the conference organisation
• 97% mostly or fully enjoyed the sessions’ diversity
• 94.4% gained a new insight or understanding
• 66.7% gained inspiration/empowerment/motivation to embrace open science in their own work
• 58.3% gained a support network / sense of community
• 44.4% gained inspiration/empowerment/motivation to become an ambassador of open research

“Two highlights from the SORTEE 2025 conference for me were the inspiring plenary sessions and the immersive hackathon. They provided me with my first hands-on exposure to open science and moved me closer to my ambition of joining and contributing to international collaborations. The opportunity to connect and work with international researchers was an invaluable and motivating experience" A comment from an attendee at the SORTEE 2025 conference

In terms of logistics, we had:

• 1 Zoom link for the whole conference
• 1 information pack with everything you need to know about the conference
• 1 program app to convert the schedule into your own time zone
• 0 technical issues

“I didn’t witness any of the usual/common technical issues (microphones not working, speakers’ connection collapsing, presenters’ presentation freezing etc.) which was a pleasant surprise." A comment from an attendee at the SORTEE 2025 conference

A few words from the SORTEE 2025 Conference Committee

Have you ever wondered what it is like to organise a conference? Well, here are a few things we wanted to share with you. Since the committee first met in early February, our goal has been to organise a successful open science event as accessible and welcoming as possible.

There were so many tasks ahead of us! Luckily, we did not start from scratch and could build on previous SORTEE conferences’ volunteer work. As in other years, two of the biggest challenges were to find volunteers and teach them about technical assistance, and to create a 24-hour program that flowed smoothly without overlap and met the needs of all session facilitators. We focused on all the little details, from figuring out how to use Zoom whiteboards to making sure automatic transcription did not suddenly change language for everyone (oh dear!). We hope we did it well! Our facilitators also played a huge role by volunteering to lead exciting sessions on a wide range of open science topics and activities.

Balancing thesis writing, grant applications, and conference planning was not always easy, but we found our rhythm and learned how to work together. What kept us motivated all year was knowing we would make a meaningful contribution to open science. We met online every month from February, and then weekly from September onward. After almost a year of collaboration, the end of the conference felt bittersweet as it marked the end of our work for 2025 and our frequent companionship.

But above all, we finished with a strong sense of achievement and joy, especially after receiving so many positive comments about the conference. Along the way, we learned a great deal, and it was incredibly rewarding to see many conference participants felt the same, as shown in the post-conference feedback:

“Many thanks to the great conference team!! It is so nice to see it went so well!" A comment from an attendee at the SORTEE 2025 conference

Who is behind the SORTEE 2025 Conference Committee?

We were a team of seven. Most of us were based in Europe — except Stephanie, who joined us from Canada!

We are…

• Juliette Tariel-Adam, an evolutionary biologist particularly in love with marine organisms and watching animal behaviour. In the 2025 conference committee, I served as the Chair, a time-consuming job but one of my greatest work experiences – it was really enjoyable and rewarding to work with the whole committee to successfully deliver the conference! My dream is to live somewhere where I can snorkel every day and become friends with a fish, a whale or a seal.

• Sofia Paraskevopoulou, an evolutionary biologist curious about how organisms adapt in extreme environments. In the 2025 conference committee, I served as Program Manager, a fun yet challenging role that meant making tough choices and saying no to great science! When not pondering about evolution, I practice my punches and kicks. Adaptation comes in many forms :)

• Marija Purgar, a marine scientist and meta-researcher passionate about improving transparency and research quality in ecology and evolutionary biology. For the 2025 SORTEE Conference, I helped the current chair and new committee members navigate the organization, drawing on my experience from previous years to keep things running smoothly. Outside of work, you’ll find me island-hopping across the Adriatic.

• Ineta Kačergytė, a conservation ecologist who specialises in restoration ecology and biodiversity facilitation. At the 2025 conference, I was in charge of the registration platform and contacting registrants, which was a fun and creative task. Outside work, I dive into the fantasy world of my own creation (by writing fiction) or others (by extensive reading and video games), or go wandering through the forests.

• Magdalena Wutkowska, a microbial ecologist with an interest in physiological and molecular responses of microbes to climate change. Also, I am trying to implement some meta-analytical approach to microbiology. I was responsible for selecting content for the SORTEE 2025. After work, I like to go on a long walk, watch some crazy movies, read about revolutionary ideas, and work on visual arts projects.

• Anita Tarandek, a biologist who has worked with freshwater animals in the field and in the lab, and now explores their patterns and effects through meta-analysis on a computer screen. For the SORTEE Conference 2025, I served as the Advertiser, spreading the word and keeping everyone excited about the event. When I’m not immersed in freshwater data, I’m usually hiking or curled up under a blanket, watching my favourite TV shows.

• Stephanie Flaman, a MSc student developing remote sensing tools for estimating aboveground biomass of shelterbelts growing on agricultural land. This year, I was the platform manager for the SORTEE 2025 conference where I updated various guides and led the technical side of the conference. In my spare time, I play in a trombone choir and jazz band, indulge in long distance running, and volunteer at a wildlife rehab.

Conference accessibility

Each year, the SORTEE Conference Committee brainstorms new ways to make the conference more accessible and inclusive. For example, this year’s new feature allowed attendees to view transcripts in their own language through real-time automatic translation. We were delighted to receive such positive feedback from our participants, and we would like to share a few highlights:

“Thank you for a great conference! I am grateful for fully online conferences like this which allow me to attend.

“As always, I enjoy the inclusivity within the conference. I enjoyed the different formats they offered, which facilitated participations. Besides, the topics were very thoughtful and increased my motivation to enforce transparency and reproducibility in my research."

“I was very pleased to see representation from non-Western countries - I hope they come back next year and bring more people - we should try to get them involved more with SORTEE"

🙏 If you encountered any barriers to attending, or have ideas for improving accessibility and diversity, please fill in this anonymous form. We would really appreciate your input. Learn more about SORTEE conference accessibility at https://sortee.org/upcoming/.

Contact and links

• Contact the conference committee at conference@sortee.org.
• Access the document repository of the conference at https://osf.io/jk9yu/.
• Download and adapt the program app to your conference at https://github.com/SORTEE/Conference-app.
• Subscribe to the SORTEE conference mailing list at https://sortee-conference.myflodesk.com/subscribe.
• Find information about past SORTEE conferences at https://sortee.org/past/.
• Discover some collaborative projects launched at SORTEE conferences at https://sortee.org/collaborations/.