Stefan von Holtzbrinck: «Read a lot and be inquisitive»
The co-owner and CEO of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and top managers of Digital Science have paid an official visit to St Petersburg University.
Mr Stefan von Holtzbrinck told the audience that Holtzbrinck Publishing Group’s policy included not only knowledge accumulation and preservation but also its development. That is why the publishing holding company is trying to provide free access to scientific papers. A researcher support system has been created: authors are offered a free service enabling them to create articles in ready-made templates from global publishers; and to search for information on the grants that have funded the publication of an article or a book. Moreover, this year Digital Science launched Dimensions, a platform designed to make data more accessible. It now includes a free search option in more than 97 million publications and integration of 17 million mutually linked full-text open access sources from the world’s largest publishers.
Sergey Aplonov, St Petersburg University Vice-Rector for Research, spoke about the activities of the University researchers. Over the past five years our scientists have published over 800 articles in 217 journals and books published by Springer Nature. As a classical university, St Petersburg University comprises almost all areas of knowledge. Many publications are associated with high-level projects implemented by the University scholars jointly with their colleagues from partner organisations, for example the Nuclear Energy Agency. Sergey Aplonov highlighted that St Petersburg University paid a lot of attention to providing researchers with access to electronic libraries and databases.
The meeting was attended by Igor Osipov, Director General of Digital Science Russia/CIS and Vice President of the Digital Science holding, and Daniel Hook, CEO of the Digital Science holding, and they discussed the cooperation between St Petersburg University and Digital Science Russia. It will give impetus to the development of St Petersburg University scientific journals and the University scientists’ and students’ access to the ecosystem of Digital Science solutions.
After the negotiations were over, Stefan von Holtzbrinck held an open lecture for the University students and teachers. He expressed his point of view on how publishers and scientific events were connected. «The world of books is changing rapidly, and, to my mind, it touches everything in the world. If you use the Underground, you will see that many people down there are looking at the screens of their smartphones, this meaning we have started to read less. Over the past eight years, six million people in Germany have stopped reading books at all. Of course, the smartphone is a useful invention, yet it hinders your personal growth and leads to the attention deficit disorder,» Stefan von Holtzbrinck said. «Many people also believe that smartphones affect educational processes. For example, the textbooks we publish in the USA should not be very large, so we have to adapt ourselves to mass buyers.»
When addressing the students, Stefan von Holtzbrinck asked them to be persistent and inquisitive. As an example, he told them the story of the Macmillan brothers, two Scottish peasants, who founded a publishing house back in 1843 and it developed into one of the largest publishers in the world.
Becoming successful in a world ruled by computers, artificial intelligence and big data requires a willingness to cooperate and openness: not only technology is needed to achieve effective results, but also smart people.
Mr Stefan von Holtzbrinck
«You must read a lot. If you work in natural sciences, it is important for you to be aware of the most recent achievements of other scientists. And it doesn’t matter if you think that you do not know a particular area of knowledge: the world is changing so rapidly now,» Stefan von Holtzbrinck said.