Last week, I had the incredible opportunity of participating in the 29th Nordic Workshop on Bibliometrics & Research Policy (NWB 2024), which took place in stunning Reykjavík, Iceland. It was organized by the University of Iceland in collaboration with the National and University Library of Iceland at Háskólabíó, the University Movie Theatre. Entering there every morning was a quite curious experience for someone who lives in warm Granada, as there was a section with racks and hangers intended for leaving coats, scarves and even snow boots. I was lucky enough to be able to present a poster related to my PhD work, especially considering that the organizers received a record number of abstracts this year, making the selection process very competitive.
Over the three days of the conference, nearly 130 participants from 14 countries attended the different oral and poster sessions, fostering a remarkably friendly atmosphere. Although I didn’t find many other works closely related to my research topic, some of the subjects that interested me the most included the Nordic perspective on CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment), the role of NATO countries in shaping collaboration patterns, and the new perspective on peer review and scholarly communication given by the MetaROR (MetaResearch Open Review) initiative.
My poster, titled «What is local research? A theoretical and operational framework«, was based on the preprint «What is local research? Towards a multidimensional framework linking theory and methods» we have just submitted for publication together with my supervisor, Nicolas Robinson-Garcia. Our intention with this poster was to summarize the structure of the framework, and to highlight the performance of each operational approach at the discipline and country levels. The presentation included participation in the Minute Madness session, which involved presenting for 45 seconds in front of the entire audience, to then move to the coffee area where the printed posters were displayed. Although having less than a minute to speak was a challenge, the session ended up being very funny because the moderator sounded a horn whenever the time was up. The nerves of rushing with time were quickly replaced by lots of laughter. The organizers were always very helpful and promoted a warm atmosphere, making all attendees feel confortable and welcome.
Presenting our theoretical and methodological proposal at NWB 2024 was such a valuable experience, as I received insightful feedback and explored potential collaborations with reknowned scientists in the field. Given this was my first time attending an international conference, I also feel deeply grateful for the opportunity of meeting such wonderful researchers and PhD students from so many different places, like Finland, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Venezuela, Norway, and The Netherlands. I can’t wait to see what these new connections lead to, from formal research endeavors to the more personal, enriching moments shared within this supportive academic community. By the time I left Reykjavík, I was bursting with so many fond memories from the whole conference, the chats with colleagues over coffee, the freezing temperatures, the walks on the frozen lake, the active geysers and, as if all that wasn’t enough, even the eruption of a volcano!
