Policies, codes of conduct and laws
Policies and guidelines at Utrecht University
The University Policy Framework for Research Data highlights the requirements and expectations concerning scientific conduct, including the treatment of your research data. The policy sets out parameters to safeguard the quality, availability and accessibility of the research data you work on within Utrecht University and provides a basis for evaluating compliance with laws, regulations and codes of conduct. The policy also clarifies the roles and responsibilities of university staff in managing research data.
Sections 4 and 5 are relevant to read. Relevant points are:
- Make research data available for access and reuse at and outside Utrecht University when reasonably possible;
- Archive research data in a structure suitable for long-term preservation and later consultation;
- For verifiability purposes, retain the full set of research data connected with a research project after the project;
- Archive research data for a minimum of ten years, starting from the date that the research results are published;
- Provide sufficient metadata and documentation to describe the data to ensure they are findable for further research;
- Do not transfer the exclusive rights to reuse or publish research data to commercial publishers or their representatives without retention of the right to provide open access to the data for reuse. The exception for this is when transferring of such rights is a condition for awarding funds;
- Write a Data Management Plan (DMP) at the start of the research project. During your research you should follow up the agreements made there;
- Factor in the costs for the preservation and management of the research data in research proposals and grant applications.
Utrecht University Faculty Data Protocols
While the policy framework offers guidance on an institutional level, faculties are responsible for drawing up their own policy or protocol. Below you can find links to faculty pages about research data management, including links to existing protocols. Note that besides faculty-level protocols, there may also be protocols for your specific department or research group.
Faculty | Description/Link | Information | Ethical committee |
Geosciences | Geo data – support for researchers | Universiteit Utrecht | Home (uu.nl) | Website for research data management and privacy within the Geosciences, currently not including faculty protocol. | https://sciencegeo-erb.sites.uu.nl/
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Humanities | Centre for Digital Humanities | Data management & Privacy (uu.nl) | Website for research data management and privacy within the Humanities, including a link to the faculty policy. | https://fetc-gw.wp.hum.uu.nl/en/
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Law, Economics and Governance | Intranetpage with the faculty policy. | ||
Medicine / UMCU | UMC Utrecht intranetpage for research data management within the UMCU, including the institutional policy. | ||
| Research Data UMC Utrecht | Website outlining instructions and guidelines for UMC Utrecht data requests and data reuse. | ||
Science | Website for research data management and privacy within Science, including the faculty protocol.
| https://sciencegeo-erb.sites.uu.nl/
| |
Social and Behavioural Sciences | Website for research data management and privacy within Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSS), including the faculty protocol. |
| |
Veterinary Medicine |
| Currently no dedicated website nor faculty protocol available. |
|
Research integrity and ethics
All information about research integrity, including codes of conduct and the faculty ethical committees can be found on this dedicated page.
The relevant sections of some of these codes are summarised here:
Handling privacy-sensitive data
The following laws and regulations are relevant when you are handling personal data in your research project.
Do you have questions or need additional support? We are there to help you. Please contact us at info.rdm@uu.nl or check our support page.