Nicole Janz is a political scientist at the University of Cambridge. Her current research agenda includes the impact of globalisation on human rights; determinants of labour standards; and corruption in Brazil.

Methodologically, Nicole focuses on data transparency and replication. She is involved in a number of initiatives such as the Political Science Replication Initiative (PSRI) and the Center for Open Science (COS). Nicole regularly writes about reproducibility on her blog Political Science Replication.

As a Research Methods Associate at the Social Sciences Research Methods Centre, Nicole teaches statistical methods for graduate students, with a focus on a research-led approach to data analysis. She also developed the Cambridge Replication Workshop, in which students replicate a published paper. Several of her students have published their projects in peer-reviewed journals.

Nicole also recently appeared in a film by the Royal Society about reproducibility in scientific publications.

Catalyst Projects:

Fostering Transparency in Government Institutions and Higher Education: A Research and Teaching Initiative
Catalysts: Dalson Figueiredo (Federal University of Pernambuco) and Nicole Janz (University of Nottingham)
Locations: University of Nottingham, UK; Recife, Brazil; Brasilia, Brazil

We find research findings resulting from data that is not publicly accessible to not be credible. Similarly, governments withholding administrative information should not be trusted. We argue that the lack of government and research transparency are connected, and can be tackled in by offering training on reproducibility. This project aims to foster transparency in scholarly research and in government institutions. In particular, we will conduct educational workshops that will leverage insights that have been used to increase governmental and research transparency in the UK to improve transparency in Brazil. Our target groups are 100 undergraduate and graduate students, 20 scholars, and 20 bureaucrats. The project will strengthen research skills and transparency norms that can contribute to scientific innovation, development, and social welfare. The first workshop will be part of a day-long conference: “The Gold Standard of Reproducible Research” at the University of Nottingham on March 9, 2017.

See the workshop’s OSF page here.