Flagships
SND's and the consortium universities' flagship projects are time-limited initiatives aimed at supporting open access to research data in a broad sense. Currently, four flagship projects are active:
Chalmers and KTH
Efficient reuse of administrative research information from project initiation to data publication
The project is an independent continuation of the flagship pilot conducted by Chalmers and KTH in collaboration with SND (final report here). The goal is to reduce the administrative burden on researchers by reusing information about research projects through machine-readable data management plans that communicate with other research administrative systems. The project aims to develop a solution to create and fill out a data management plan using metadata from other systems, such as SweCris.
One of the benefits of the initiative is that researchers and research administrators can avoid having to manually enter the same information into multiple systems. This can increase incentives for researchers to create data management plans, as the process becomes simpler and more streamlined.
Contact: Urban Andersson (urban.andersson@chalmers.se)
Karolinska Institutet
KI Data Repository – Phase 1: interim solution for local storage without integration with DORIS
The flagship at Karolinska Institutet aims to create a solution where KI's researchers can securely and in a structured way store sensitive data and make them accessible through SND's catalogue. In the first phase (the flagship project), this is done manually via the interim solution for local storage without integration with DORIS. (DORIS is SND's system where researchers can describe and share research data.) Phase two will involve creating a permanent local storage solution with an integration between the university storage and SND (DORIS).
The storage issue is a central part of the work at universities to make research data accessible. The results from KI’s project can demonstrate how to create functional storage systems before a final integrated data storage is in place.
Contact: Fredrik Persson (fredrik.persson@ki.se)
Lund University
Preserved and accessible databases
Within the flagship project at Lund University, a process is being developed to make databases that are used and updated simultaneously accessible while preserving them in the long term. According to the inventory conducted at the university, researchers need to secure the operation and maintenance of databases over a longer period, especially after the project ends when funding is uncertain. The flagship project primarily targets researchers in the humanities and social sciences, but the results can be applied in other scientific fields.
Questions about responsibility, operations, and costs regarding the preservation of research data are relevant for all Swedish HEIs. The flagship project at Lund University can show how to work towards creating long-term technical systems and solutions for preserving databases.
Contact: Kristoffer Holmqvist (kristoffer.holmqvist@ub.lu.se)
Stockholm University
Certification of the Bolin Centre Database – a repository for climate, environmental, and earth system data at Stockholm University
The flagship project at Stockholm University aims to make the Bolin Centre Database a CoreTrustSeal certified repository. The database already meets several of the certification requirements, but not all. By more clearly integrating the database into the university's central research support, functions such as IT support, data curation, legal support, and e-archives will become more accessible to the repository, contributing to its development towards a more sustainable organization.
One of the long-term goals of SND’s collaboration is to create certified repositories at the HEIs in the network. The certification of Bolin Centre can serve as an example of how the process can proceed, and experiences from the project can be used to facilitate future certification work at HEIs.
Contact: Merlijn de Smit (merlijn.de.smit@su.se)