The LIBSENSE Early Career Researcher (ECR) Initiative is gaining momentum in Nigeria as campus leads turn training into action. ECR Champions are engaging university leadership, advocating for Open Science policies, and building more visible, accessible, and impactful research ecosystems. Recent successes at Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) show the initiative’s shift from individual capacity-building to institution-wide transformation. At AAU, ECR Champion Dr Chiedozie Godian Ike’s advocacy led the university to formally endorse the LIBSENSE initiative and commit to integrating Open Science across research, library, and ICT functions. Inspired by the LIBSENSE ECR Leadership Workshop, Dr Ike engaged university leadership to make Open Science an institutional priority, aiming to improve research visibility, increase citation rates, strengthen rankings, and foster international collaboration. The university will systematically curate and preserve scholarly outputs through an institutional repository and establish a cross-functional governance structure involving key stakeholders. AAU also plans to appoint LIBSENSE Open Science Champions in every faculty and department, expanding the impact from one ECR Champion to a campus-wide network. At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, LIBSENSE ECR Campus Leads launched the LIBSENSE Open Science Project after attending the national workshop. During a visit to university management, they highlighted Open Science’s strategic value for research visibility, academic integrity, international collaboration, and access to global research funding. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Mike Ebie Onyia, welcomed the initiative and encouraged the team to develop a policy brief to support the adoption of Open Science. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Kamoru Olayiwola Usman, pledged support for integrating Open Science principles across faculties and departments. Dr Ify Evangel Obim, representing the LIBSENSE ECR on the campus, stressed the need for institutional policies, robust repositories, capacity building, and sustainable infrastructure to position UNN as a leading Open Science institution in Nigeria and Africa. These developments highlight the growing impact of the LIBSENSE ECR Initiative, which is building a network of campus leaders driving institutional change. By equipping early career researchers with the skills to engage university leadership, the initiative fosters institutional ownership of Open Science and supports its wider adoption across Africa. As more ECR Campus Leads implement similar initiatives, LIBSENSE demonstrates that empowering individual researchers drives lasting institutional transformation. The experiences at AAU and UNN show that Open Science progresses most effectively when local champions inspire collective action, turning ideas into policies and campuses into hubs of open, collaborative research.
