First step in weaving the web of the UDCC Network

Tuesday morning, November 12th. A group of data managers, privacy officers, research engineers, IT architects and other support staff from all over Utrecht University gathered in the Vening Meinesz building. They came together to share their thoughts and considerations on data storage solutions. It was the first step towards weaving the web of the UDCC Network.

It was not only connecting with other support staff and getting together. All colleagues that attended wanted to actively work on solutions for data storage. It is one of the main topics in their day-to-day work, since researchers are collecting more and more data. What’s the best platform for them to use for data storage? Should it be solutions offered by SURF, like SURF Research Drive or is Yoda, Utrecht University’s in-house developed data management service, the best place to store and archive data? At Utrecht University (UU), all the data produced and collected is so different and varies a lot. Scientists come from a diversity of faculties and departments: they do microscopic analyses, make video recordings for a qualitative study, make static overviews, write literature reviews and more. All these researchers generate data that they want to work with and keep in a secure place.

Over 150 possibilities to store your research data

René Adelerhof (Veterinary Medicine) and Mercedes Beltrán (Science Faculty) both created an overview of the data storage solutions for their faculty. They showed how many different options researchers have to store their data: nearly 150 possibilities had been mapped by both of them! How, as a research supporter, do you advice scientists what’s the best option for their project?

In breakout groups all attendees of the UDCC Forum discussed this topic from various points of view. One group focused on infrastructure, one on privacy and security and one on data policies. At the end of the morning, the entire group met again to discuss key questions and actions to be taken.

The first initiative of the UDCC is a reality: the creation of a working group called ‘Decision framework on research data storage and research data management solutions’, DISC for short. The members of this group will build on the overviews shared by René Adelerhof and Mercedes Beltrán. The aim of this group is to develop a decision-making framework to help support staff advise researchers on data storage.

We share the output

If you are interested in what exactly was discussed on this Tuesday morning, check out the UDCC Forum Dialogue. If you have access to the RDM Support Teams group, you can consult the separate 'UDCC-forum' channel, where we share all updates and information concerning the UDCC Forum meetings and intermediate updates from the working group. If you want to be part of this Teams channel, please send us an email so we can give you access.

Don’t miss out and come to the next UDCC Forum

Do you want to know how digital competences can improve scientific research? Are you interested in how you can contribute? Join us next time. At the forum, you can participate in discussions and actions on various topics related to digital competences. It is a fun way to meet fellow research supporters from other parts of the university.

See you at the next UDCC Forum!