The University has launched an internal project to help improve how research data is managed and to ensure researchers continue to comply with funding requirements in the future. The Research Data Management (RDM) project is sponsored by Professor Dinah Birch, PVC for Research and Knowledge Exchange, and will lead the development of processes and systems that will ensure effective storage and retrieval of data and will maximise the potential for future reuse.
Professor Birch explained the importance of the project: “It is vital we continue to support our researchers by understanding their needs and putting the right support in place. Regulation now calls for all research applications to include increasingly rigorous plans assuring robust research data management. Many funders have already agreed a set of principles and expectations about how research data is stored and shared in order to derive maximum value from the research that they fund.
“Complying with these expectations is increasingly challenging for researchers, particularly when collaborating internationally and with industry partners, which are important objectives for the University. The RDM project will help us effectively plan and build systems and processes which help secure our success in future funding applications.”
Nick Dods will head up the project for the University and will be consulting with researchers across the University to understand how data is currently managed, the data types and formats used to collect data and the services and support that would be best support them.
The RDM team is in the process of developing a policy outlining best practices for data storage, management and sharing. After consultation with researchers, the team will work towards putting the right support and storage infrastructure in place.
The following academics will champion the project in each faculty:-
Health and Life Sciences Dr Andy Jones
Science & Engineering – Dr David Hutchcroft
Humanities & Social Sciences Dr Stuart Wilks-Heeg
You can find out more information about the project by visiting: https://www.liv.ac.uk/intranet/research-data-management or by contacting Nick Dods.