Research data are a primary output of research. Sharing and re-using quality-assured data is considered good scientific practice. It allows research findings to be verified or reproduced based on the original data, and it increases the value of the initial investment: researchers can build on previous results without having to spend money on reproducing data.
Sharing and re-use of data are strongly promoted in the current move towards Open Science. Initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) play an essential role in this promotion.
Good research data management throughout the research process helps researchers to plan how, when, and where to share which data. Many research funding and research performing organisations have respective policies in place, especially for data management plans. Science Europe aims to align such policies and requirements across Europe.
This will make things easier for researchers from different organisations or disciplines to work together, and for researchers who change funders or home institutes. It will also make it easier for research organisations to evaluate data management plans and implement their own policies.
Science Europe also aims to ensure the sustainability of research data, including their long-term storage and accessibility. This requires research organisations and research data infrastructures (RDIs) to establish the necessary framework conditions, including organisational policies, technical preparedness, financial solutions, and training.
Science Europe actively promotes the principle that research data should be FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-usable. It works with its Member Organisations and other stakeholders to align policies and procedures, and to provide clear guidelines to support researchers in their data management.
Science Europe is highly engaged in the development and promotion of the European Open Science Cloud. It supports the uptake of the EOSC in all of its activities on research data.
Together with experts from its Member Organisations, Science Europe has issued several publications on data management. These provide practical guidance to aligning policies across disciplines (2018) and across organisations (2019/2021). It has also provided best-practice examples from organisations that have successfully implemented data management policies to help guide organisations still setting them up. See also our page on Research Data Management.
Science Europe also works on creating a common understanding of the approaches needed for the sustainability of research data. It is currently developing a tool that will support organisations to assess their current status regarding sustainability, and to set objectives in line with their priorities. The tool is expected to be released in spring 2021. See also our page on Sustainable Research Data.
| Country | Organisation | Acronym | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Austrian Science Fund | FWF | Katharina Rieck |
| Belgium | Fund for Scientific Research | F.R.S-FNRS | Jean-Claude Kita |
| Belgium | Research Foundation Flanders | FWO | Alexandra Vandervelde |
| Denmark | Danish council for Independent Research | DFF | Johanne Thorup Dalgaard |
| Finland | Academy of Finland | AKA | Harri Hautala |
| France | French National Research Agency | ANR | Zoé Ancion |
| Germany | German Research Foundation | DFG | Michael Royeck |
| Germany | German Research Foundation | DFG | Stefan Winkler-Nees (Chair) |
| Ireland | Health Research Board | HRB | Patricia Clarke |
| Ireland | Health Research Board | HRB | Sharon Kappala |
| Italy | National Institute for Nuclear Physics | INFN | Tommaso Boccali |
| Lithuania | Research Council of Lituania | LMT | Artūras Kaklauskas |
| Lithuania | Research Council of Lituania | LMT | Ramunė Rudokienė |
| Luxembourg | National Research Fund | FNR | Tom Jakobs |
| Netherlands | Dutch Research Council | NWO | Hans de Jonge |
| Netherlands | Dutch Research Council | NWO | Maria Cruz |
| Norway | Research Council of Norway | RCN | Anne Elisabeth Solsnes |
| Poland | Foundation for Polish Science | FNP | Barbara Wajnchold |
| Poland | National Science Centre | NCN | Laura Bandura-Morgan |
| Portugal | Foundation for Science and Technology | FCT | Filipa Pereira |
| Romania | Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation | UEFISCDI | Alina Irimia |
| Spain | Spanish National Research Council | CSIC | Fernando Aguilar |
| Spain | Spanish National Research Council | CSIC | Joaquín Tintoré |
| Sweden | Swedish Research Council | VR | Sanja Halling |
| Switzerland | Swiss National Science Foundation | SNSF | Isabel Bolliger |
| Switzerland | Swiss National Science Foundation | SNSF | Cornelia Sommer |
| United Kingdom | UK Research and Innovation | UKRI | Geraldine Clement-Stoneham |
| United Kingdom | UK Research and Innovation | UKRI | Mark Thorley |
At this event Science Europe launches the updated edition of its Guide for Aligning Research Data Management across Europe, now with a new DMP evaluation rubric.
Developed by experts from Science Europe Member Organisations, this guide aims to align research data management (RDM) requirements across research organisations. Originally released in 2019, it was updated in January 2021 to include guidance to support the evaluation of data management plans (DMPs).
In its response to the European Commission, Science Europe highlights that future EU legislation on AI needs to strike the right balance between safeguards for users and developers of AI systems, and a legal environment that fosters R&I.
In its response to the European Commission Roadmap for an upcoming legislative proposal on the governance of common European data spaces, Science Europe reinforces the need to consider sectoral policies to ensure coherence.
Science Europe calls on the European Commission to take into account the important role of the research sector as producer and user of data. The longstanding experience of the research sector should feed into the development of an overarching EU data strategy that promotes data access across sectors.
In its response to the EC consultation on the European Strategy for Data, Science Europe also underlines the need to consider sectoral policies to ensure coherence between overarching and sectoral policies.
Does your organisation want to develop requirements for data management plans (DMPs) or update existing ones?
Take a look at our latest publication to find out how to do so in three steps.
Science Europe has been appointed as one of 11 members of the new Executive Board of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
Our Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management was officially release in January 2019. Ten months later, the guide’s recommendations have found their way into a number of organisational and, in some cases, even national Open Science or data management policies.
Science Europe and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) launch an initiative for the voluntary international alignment of research data management policies.