Open Science 2025: New Top Citizen Science Projects Bring Society and Research Together

Health information is everywhere these days – in the media, on apps and social networks, or at the doctor’s office. However, many people have a hard time assessing which information they can trust and what interests are behind it. “At the same time, science is faced with the challenge of providing health information in easily understandable formats, explaining how it can be implemented in everyday life, and making sure it’s also scientifically accurate,” says Andrea Siebenhofer-Kroitzsch from the Medical University of Graz. This is where “CONNECT” comes in: Together with citizens, the researchers will be developing guidelines for evidence-based health information. “We’ll be focusing on the criteria people use to decide if health information is trustworthy, and how these perspectives can be aligned with established quality standards.” The core of “CONNECT” is a group of 10 to 15 citizen scientists, who will be collecting and analyzing health information and conducting interviews with people in their communities to determine whether and why they recommend health information to others. Finally, citizen scientists and researchers will be working together to develop guidelines for preparing health information. “These guidelines will help build a bridge between scientific evidence and what people need in their everyday lives to make well-informed decisions about their health.”

More and more people – especially young people – are reporting mental health problems. Many young people use social media to research mental health issues, and often encounter content that is unreliable or could harm them. “Reliable information is urgently needed. But in order to reach young people, science communication has to adapt to the reality of their lives, their language, and their digital world,” explains Lilian Konicar from the ABC BRAIN LAB at the Medical University of Vienna. The “Mental Health Literacy PART-Y (Participating Youth)” project intends to recruit teens to participate in the research project. Together with researchers, they will be investigating how their generation understands mental health and where the gaps in their knowledge are. In workshops, the teens will share their experiences in acquiring and communicating knowledge about mental health, such as how to find information and the professional help available. Subsequently, a questionnaire on mental health literacy will be developed in cooperation with the young participants. “We will also be including the complex role played by social media, because it is both a risk factor and a potential resource. In this way, we will be offering a uniquely comprehensive and contemporary view of this generation’s mental health,” says Konicar. The teens will then work with researchers to develop social media content that addresses the identified knowledge gaps.

The Galápagos island of Floreana is about to be the home of one of the world’s most ambitious renaturation projects: Twelve locally extinct species, including the Galápagos buzzard and the Floreana giant tortoise, are being reintroduced. Sonia Kleindorfer and her team at the University of Vienna will be investigating how the ecology, behavior, and genetics of the populations on Floreana change after reintroduction. As part of “ReWilding Floreana Together,” the researchers will be working closely with the island’s approximately 160 inhabitants. They will be invited to document their sightings of the reintroduced animals and other local species using a special citizen science app. With this method, researchers hope to be able to better understand the interaction betweeen species and changes in their habitat. “At the same time, we will be helping the local community take on an active role as custodians and facilitators of this historic resettlement project,” explains Kleindorfer. Participants will be working with the research team to design the app, set research priorities, and present the results on site. “By contributing observations, sharing their local knowledge, and participating in the joint development of activities, residents become co-researchers, instead of just passive observers of nature conservation.” Their observations will help the Galápagos National Park make decisions on protecting this ecosystem in the long term.

How do middle-school students from migrant families experience their multilingualism in everyday life and how can a diverse linguistic background be leveraged as potential in the classroom? The “EMuVo” project, led by Miriam Weidl at the University of Vienna, approaches these questions in the place where multilingualism is often practiced fluidly: at home with the kids’ families. School children will play a key role as citizen scientists as they document and analyze multilingualism in their home environment and interview their community multilingually about their linguistic practices and beliefs. “While previous research has mostly looked at public language landscapes, the ‘EMuVo’ project will be focusing on the home environment, an area that has been little researched to date,” explains Weidl. “In doing so, the project will be answering some key questions: What linguistic practices characterize students’ everyday lives? What attitudes and uncertainties exist towards multilingualism? And how do these factors influence educational inequalities?” The data will be incorporated into an exhibition designed together with the kids, making the results publicly accessible. “Our project also supports young people in becoming confident multilingual learners and recognizes their multilingual environments as a valuable resource.”