Through research data management (RDM), researchers gain a structured overview of a research project’s data life cycle. This helps them to save time and resources in project delivery and communication. Further benefits include more opportunities to collaborate, higher visibility and enhanced reputation.
Open access to research data contributes to the effectiveness, transparency and reproducibility of the scientific research process. Various actors (national strategy, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), EU) are committed to advancing open data as a pillar of open science culture and to entrenching them in research funding guidelines. The HSLU’s stance on research data management and open research data is set out in its open science policy. Follow the link on the main open science website.
Data life cycle
Research data has a cycle: After the planning, gathering and analysis stages, it is made available/published and released for further use (e.g., for teaching or to help answer new or extended research questions).
Data management plan
A data management plan (DMP) allows for a systematic handling of research data from the inception of a research idea to the finished project. DMPs can be defined individually and vary in scope. In terms of content, the DMP should regulate data organisation and storage as well as legal and ethical questions.
Useful resources to develop a data management plan:
Open data: “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”
The open access philosophy also applies to open data: access should be as free as the existing legal, ethical and technical framework allow it. Licensed accordingly, the research data can be published and made available for other uses in a data repository following the FAIR principles.
Open Data and research with business partners
The Lucerne Open Repository (LORY) is the HSLU’s institutional repository through which documents and data can be published
Open Data and joint research projects with industry partners
Joint research projects with industry partners are extremely important for the HSLU. Data management can be a challenge in these settings, as agreements and access modalities must be negotiated between the parties. If data is generated in the project, economic interests can make it difficult to publish them. However, even reduced access can be granted in compliance with FAIR principles. Transparency around the conditions and paths to access increase the visibility of all parties involved.
HSLU Data Stewardship
Data stewardship means support for research data management. It can be provided by a dedicated in-house data steward or through various service units within an organisation. The HSLU has implemented several measures to provide data stewardship services. As part of a programme associated with the Digital Agenda 2030, a swissuniversities-funded project aims to link the HSLU’s central services to better align and deliver the university’s offerings around research data management. The project, which is set to conclude at the end of 2024, aims to pool information on data research management, e.g., on an information platform.
Renku – collaborative platform for reproducible research
The data science platform allows researchers, project consortia and institutes to collaboratively manage their projects by integrating and visualising code and data, ensuring replicability in the process. You can get more information on the HSLU’s own instance of Renku from Science IT HSLU. Login to the services via renku.hslu.ch.
Services for HSLU employees
The libraries offer guidance and support around data management plans and data publication on the LORY or suitable specialist repository, as well as on data organisation, documentation and meta data.
Contact us any time using the address opposite.
Further information for employees: Open Science
