As announced in our previous newsletter, we organize a monthly lecture series on Research Data Management, together with the IMS department. The goal is 1) to raise awareness for this important, yet complex, issue and 2) to share practical knowledge about good data management practice and 3) to match RDM support services with the TU/e researchers. The first two lectures were well visited (≈ 40 persons) and highly appreciated by the audience.

The kick-off in January by Aarnout Brombacher was an inspiring talk about the possibilities, but also the big challenges in data collection on recreational sports. Privacy and ethics issues are omnipresent, which requires careful thought before the experiments start. In the second session we enjoyed a combined talk by Peter Hilbers and Leon Osinski. Peter explained the general context and the roadmap TU/e is following to ensure FAIR practices (i.e., findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable). Leon gave a hands-on overview of the demands set out by funding agencies. Basically this comes down to depositing data in a repository, making it as ‘open as possible, as closed as necessary’, adhering to FAIR principles and writing this all down in a data management plan. Obviously, you also need to actually follow and/or adapt such a plan during your project. Both lectures are recorded and can be viewed here.

For an overview of upcoming RDM lectures and registration, check our calendar. The next RDM lecture, by Federico Toschi on: ‘Software development in research environments’ is planned on Thursday 28 March