SND's latest network meeting addressed the question of how higher education institutions can organise their efforts to produce and disseminate research data that follows the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).
The first topic was how best to implement policies and guidelines for managing research data. At present, Stockholm University is the only Swedish university that has an approved policy for research data. Sabina Anderberg, Business Developer at Stockholm University Library, highlighted the advantages of a well-established and well-formulated research data policy. It conveys the institution's vision for research data and states the ways in which the university supports and promotes open science. It can also specify different areas of responsibility at the university in increasing access to well-documented research data. Peter Linde, Librarian at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), described BTH's ongoing work on developing a research data policy (currently at draft stage) and creating an organisation for managing research data.
Jeremy Azzopardi, Data Manager at SND, presented a first version of the SND’s Metadata and Research Data Requirements Description (Swedish only). The idea is that it will be a useful resource for institutions working locally with research data, together with the SND’s Data Management Handbook (also currently in development).
The day concluded with a panel discussion on university-based educational materials on data management for researchers. The panel, consisting of Gustav Nilsonne (Karolinska Institute), Lina Andrén (Mälardalen University), Christel Häggström (Umeå University), Stefan Ekman and Caspar Jordan (SND) agreed that there is a need for Swedish educational materials for researchers, preferably consisting of presentations, exercises and good examples. There was also an emphasis on communicating the importance of routines for data management at an early stage, preferably as a compulsory component of postgraduate education.
Presentations from the meeting (Swedish only)