Editorial

Hello,

A bit out of the ordinary, the fifth RDMG newsletter for August is arriving after a short delay due to vacation schedules. The four initiatives for excellence clusters from the university of Freiburg have finalized their applications. The RDMG was involved in outlining the research data management within these clusters. The integration with the service offerings and plans of the University Library, Computing Center, and other institutions enhances the excellence of the entire university. Therefore, Prof. Dr. Stefan Rensing, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, has advocated within the cluster initiatives to consider Data Stewardship on a larger scale and to participate in a pool of such professionals.

Best regards,

Jan Leendertse

From the RDMG

Best Practices for EXC and Deans

At the invitation of the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Prof. Dr. Stefan Rensing, the excellence cluster initiatives and the deans of all faculties were invited on June 27, 2024, to a presentation of best practices. These highlighted factors that can make research data management sustainable, using three examples from the University of Freiburg. The factors were documented in a presentation published on FreiDok plus. Some of these factors include:

• Keeping data available for multiple uses
• Enabling the integration of additional user groups
• Automating transitions between phases in the research data lifecycle
• Seeking division of labor where it opens up new opportunities for researchers to focus on their core work
• […]

Training for PostDocs

On July 17, 2024, a training session titled “How to Create a Research Data Concept for Third-Party Funding Proposals?” was held in collaboration with Academic Personnel Development. It was designed as a compact seminar with the opportunity to focus on participants' own data management plans and was aimed at PostDocs.

Research Data Management in Practice

Data Stewardship as an Internal Service

The editorial mentioned the proposal to plan for Data Stewardship not solely by creating temporary positions within one’s own research project. Data Stewardship refers to the support of data-driven research by qualified personnel whose profile goes beyond general IT administration and is more closely aligned with the practical research workflows of the specific field. Discipline-specific methodological content plays a significant role in their training. Data Stewards are typically recruited more from a scientific discipline than from studies of informatics.

The market for Data Stewards currently sees more demand than supply.

The proportion of Data Stewards in individual research projects is difficult to quantify before a project starts. In small projects, it is unlikely to achieve a consistent workload for Data Stewards over the project’s duration.

Therefore, it seems logical to plan such activities as a bookable service rather than engage in recruitment within a tight job market. Considerations are underway on how to establish a pool of Data Stewards with different profiles at the University of Freiburg, where smaller research projects can temporarily utilize specialized personnel as a service. This service should be billable in a way that allows it to be included in third-party funded projects.

Upcoming Events

bwHPC Symposium

The 10th bwHPC Symposium will take place at the University of Freiburg on September 25 and 26. It is organized by the eScience department of the Computing Center. The agenda has been published. The symposium is aimed at all users of HPC infrastructures in Baden-Württemberg and provides information on use cases, tools, and an opportunity to learn about further developments.

Next Newsletter

Newsletter #006 is expected to be published in the last week of September 2024.