Brian Nosek

Brian Nosek
Brian Nosek · CC0 · source
Name	Brian Nosek
Birth date	1969
Nationality	American
Fields	Social psychology, Metascience
Workplaces	University of Virginia; University of Virginia Department of Psychology; Center for Open Science
Alma mater	University of Virginia; University of Virginia (Ph.D.)
Known for	Reproducibility Project, Open Science advocacy, meta-science infrastructure

Brian Nosek

Brian Nosek is an American social psychologist and metascience advocate known for leading large-scale efforts to improve research transparency and replicability in psychology and other sciences. He has been a driving force behind infrastructure initiatives, collaborative projects, and policy shifts at institutions such as the University of Virginia and the Center for Open Science. His work intersects with scholars, funders, and publishers to transform norms across academia, research organizations, and professional societies.

Early life and education

Nosek earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy in psychology at the University of Virginia, where he studied under advisers and collaborators including Mahzarin Banaji and engaged with faculty such as David Dunning and Elliot Aronson. During graduate training he conducted research related to social cognition and implicit attitudes, drawing on conceptual foundations established by figures like Anthony Greenwald and Claude Steele. His doctoral work incorporated experimental methods that connected to programs at research centers including the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and built on traditions from departments such as Stanford University and Harvard University through academic networks and conferences.

Research and career

Nosek’s early research focused on implicit social cognition, attitudes, and decision-making processes, contributing to literatures that include work by Shelly Taylor, Dan Ariely, and Elizabeth Loftus. He held faculty positions at the University of Virginia Department of Psychology and collaborated with researchers at institutions such as Princeton University, Yale University, and Northwestern University. His methodological interests led him to intersect with meta-research scholars like John Ioannidis and Paul Glasziou, prompting initiatives that examined publication practices, statistical inference, and research reproducibility across journals like Psychological Science and Nature Human Behaviour.

Open Science and the Center for Open Science

Nosek co-founded the Center for Open Science (COS) alongside colleagues including Todd Opderbeck and launched projects aligned with open infrastructure efforts at organizations such as Open Science Framework and funders like the National Science Foundation and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. COS under his leadership built platforms, registration tools, and badges that engaged publishers including PLOS, Royal Society, and Elsevier and professional societies such as the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for Judgment and Decision Making. He worked with data repositories and standards bodies including Dryad Digital Repository and DataCite to promote data sharing, reproducible workflows, and transparency policies adopted by research institutions like the University of California system and funders such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Notable studies and contributions

Nosek was principal investigator on the Reproducibility Project: Psychology, a landmark collaborative replication effort involving over 270 researchers from teams connected to institutions like University of Edinburgh, University of Amsterdam, and University of Sydney. The project assessed replication rates for studies published in journals such as Psychological Science and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and influenced debates involving commentators such as Marcus Munafò and Alexandra Franco. He co-authored influential papers on reproducibility and registered reports that engaged editorial practices at outlets including Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and informed initiatives like the Transparency and Openness Promotion guidelines endorsed by organizations such as the Center for Open Science and the Open Science Collaboration. His empirical and infrastructural contributions intersect with meta-analysts like Simine Vazire and Tessa Charlesworth in reshaping incentives for reproducible research across disciplines including work at the National Institutes of Health and international consortia.

Awards and honors

Nosek’s contributions have been recognized by awards and fellowships from organizations such as the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science, and support from funders including the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. He has been invited to speak at conferences and symposia hosted by institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Royal Society and has received distinctions in metascience and open scholarship from bodies including the Open Knowledge Foundation and professional associations such as the American Psychological Association.

Personal life and public engagement

Nosek participates in public engagement activities, contributing commentary for media outlets and policy discussions involving stakeholders such as National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and advocacy groups like Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. He collaborates with an international network of researchers from universities including University of Oxford, Columbia University, and University of Melbourne and contributes to training programs, workshops, and summer schools supported by organizations such as The Carpentries and the Software Sustainability Institute. Outside of research, he resides in Charlottesville and is involved with local academic and civic initiatives connected to institutions like the University of Virginia and regional outreach programs.

Category:American psychologists Category:Open science proponents