Data Stewardship
Data management in Austrian universities
More and more often, universities are beginning to recognise the value of the vast amounts of research data they hold. Depending on their institutional focus, goals, and organisational structure, however, they have different philosophies that they adopt to overcome the challenges associated with making the best use of data. As universities work to curate and manage data, they run into a number of problems related to the need to provide researchers with enough resources (infrastructure and personnel) to carry out data-driven science, which is a central aspect of current academic activity. One heavily discussed solution is to professionalise data management at various levels of the university system.
Aims of the initiative:
Universities, and in particular their research institutions, need to receive further support to manage research data, to build suitable infrastructure, and, in a further step, to evaluate these data. Data stewards can provide consulting services and support research institutions, enabling them to manage research data sustainably.
Work package of the initiative:
The initiative was implemented as a work package in the FAIR Data Austria project.
Current project status:
The Data Stewardship programme has been introduced, and three data stewards are currently on staff at TU Graz. Data stewards have also been introduced at Med Uni Graz and Uni Wien. Workshops on research data management are being held on an ongoing basis to raise awareness among other researchers and to get them on board.
A report linked below presents models in the form of a toolbox that can be used by data stewards and lists required skills and training. This should enable universities to choose an appropriate implementation strategy based on their specific needs.
Potential synergies with other higher education institutions:
Because the topic of research data management concerns all higher education institutions where research takes place, the Data Stewardship programme is also of interest to other institutions. Through the structure that has already been established at TU Graz, valuable experiences can be shared and support can be offered to help introduce such a programme.
Interesting links related to the initiative:
https://repository.tugraz.at/records/p9fvw-rke48 (Data Stewardship in the Making, in German)
This booklet was created specifically to provide other universities with an overview and insights into data stewardship.
https://forschungsdaten.at/en/fair-data-austria/
Official FAIR Data Austria project website
More information:
Hero: c Freepik, designed by vectorjuice