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cOAlition S Head of Strategy, Robert Kiley, to conclude role in June 2025

29/05/2025

After a successful period leading our strategic direction, Robert Kiley has decided the time is right to explore new opportunities to continue his engagement with the scholarly publishing community. At cOAlition S we are enormously grateful for his significant contribution to establishing full and immediate open access arrangements which put into practice the principles we established in 2019. We wish him every success as he leaves us on 1st June.

Robert joined cOAlition S from the outset in 2018, initially serving as interim Coordinator, seconded by Wellcome, before assuming the role of Head of Strategy in 2021. Throughout his seven-year tenure, Robert has been instrumental in shaping cOAlition S’s strategic direction and operational framework, also securing funding of more than €5m over five years.  He played a key role in encouraging major research funders – including the Gates Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the World Health Organisation – to develop Open Access policies that aligned with Plan S, ultimately bringing these organisations into the cOAlition S.

His vision of making research more accessible, fair and equitable, has been a driving force behind cOAlition S policies. To ensure that grantees working under a Plan S mandate could continue to publish in their journal of choice, Robert led the Transformative Journal programme and championed the Rights Retention Strategy. He also co-chaired the beyond article-based charges Working Group that resulted in the development of the “How Equitable Is It?” assessment tool. In recent years, Robert has been supporting cOAlition S in developing its next-phase strategy, which includes exploring how funders can support more equitable and innovative publishing models.

“It has been a privilege and great fun working with a group of funding organisations who are truly committed to implementing full and immediate Open Access”, Robert said. “While there is still a lot to do to achieve Open Access, together we have made significant progress, and I am confident that this will continue.”

Mari Sundli Tveit, Chief Executive of the Research Council of Norway and Chair of the cOAlition S Leaders Group stated: “On behalf of all the funders within cOAlition S, I would like to heartfully thank Robert Kiley for the unwavering commitment and invaluable expertise he has generously shared with us over the past seven years. We warmly wish him every success and fulfilment in his future endeavours”.

Following Robert’s departure, the Strategy and Implementation Group of cOAlition S, which was established in January 2025, will assume responsibility for the design and execution of the coalition’s strategy in the forthcoming years, including ongoing initiatives to advance Open Access publishing worldwide. “The Strategy and Implementation Group represents the collective vision and expertise of cOAlition S organisations,” noted Robert. “I am convinced that their collaborative approach will bring fresh perspectives and even greater momentum to the cOAlition S mission”.