The Alliance of German Science Organisations - Recommendations on Data

1. The Alliance of German Science Organisations - Recommendations on Data

2. Federal Government Länder Higher Education Sector DFG • Basic funding relations • Federal Government • Länder • Business enterprise sector HGF MPG Länder insti- tutions per- forming R&D Federal institutions performing R&D FhG WGL Academies • Project funding • Federal Government • Business enterprise sector Intramural research laboratories Federation of Industrial Cooperative Research Associations DFG Business enterprise sector Structure of German Research Funding

3. Federal Government Länder Higher Education Sector DFG DFG • Basic funding relations • Federal Government • Länder • Business enterprise sector HGF HGF MPG MPG Länder insti- tutions per- forming R&D Federal institutions performing R&D FhG FhG WGL WGL Academies AvH DAAD HRK WR • Project funding • Federal Government • Business enterprise sector Intramural research laboratories Federation of Industrial Cooperative Research Associations DFG Business enterprise sector Structure of German Research Funding The Alliance of German Science Organisations

4. The Alliance of German Science Organisations 22. June 2008: Priority Initiative "Digital Information" The main topics are: • National Licensing • National Hosting Strategy • Research Data • Open Access • Legal Frameworks • Virtual Research Environments http://www.allianzinitiative.de/

5. What is the issue? Research Data ... • ... are the basis of scientific findings. • ... are inadequately used today. • ... are accessible in a very limited manner. • ... are not available on a long-term basis. Ian-S; http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian-s/2152798588 cc: by-nc-nd The Vision of the Science Organisations: Research data should be freely accessible, they should be easy to get and they should be professionally curated on a long-term basis.

6. The Alliance Recommendations on Data

7. Preservation and accessibility In accordance with important international organisations involved in funding and performing research, the Alliance supports the long-term preservation of, and the principle of open access to, data from publicly funded research. This principle shall be balanced against the scientific and legal interests of researchers. The protection of the personal data of participants, patients and others affected by the collected data, as well as obligations to third parties — e.g. cooperation partners — have to be taken into account. The principles of good scientific practice must also to be observed.

8. Differences between the scientific disciplines The ways of and conditions for access to research data must be developed separately for the individual scientific disciplines, taking into account the methods of data acquisition, the volume and potential for integration of the data, as well as its practical usability. At the same time, the respective life cycles and usage scenarios of the data in the specific research fields have to be considered. Source: DFG Source: DFG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Rosetta_Stone_BW.jpeg

9. Scientific recognition The provision of research data for further use is a service which benefits the sciences and humanities in their entirety. The Alliance encourages the recognition and support of this additional costly and time consuming effort.

10. Teaching and qualification For those involved in research, an appropriate range of training and support services for professional data management must be made available, meeting the specific requirements of the different disciplines. Information embedded in an intelligent network Knowledge Structured data Information “Raw” data Data after Bernard Ladenthin: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Wissenspyramide.svg

11. Use of standards Proper use of research data requires that the data are documented and provided with appropriate metadata in a standardisedmanner. Observing subject-specific requirements, standards, metadata catalogues and registries are to be developed in such a way that interdisciplinary use is also possible. "The great thing about standards is, that there are so many to choose from.“ (Anonymous) CC BY-NC 2.5; http://xkcd.com/

12. Development of infrastructures Sustainable research data management imposes a wide range of technical and organisationalrequirements. These requirements must be defined through the cooperation of researchers and information specialists. Infrastructures are to be developed according to these requirements and, if possible, interoperablyintegrated in international and interdisciplinary networks from the start. Old Reading RoomoftheBritish Library, London http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:British_Museum_Reading_Room_Panorama_Feb_2006.jpg cc: by-sa Sommai: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2685

13. Research data management: approaches and strategies • Shaping and moderation of an awareness building process aiming at using digital resources more efficiently, develop and implement appropriate infrastructures and tools and to finally make research data available (back up andarchivingandre-use). • Close cooperation of scientists as data producers and providers to data repositories and also as users of those repositories with experts of the information management jointly shaping the process. • Define discipline specific demands and specifications and include these into the process. • Development of means for publication of research data (incl. peer-review). • Identify best practise examples and use experience. • Initiate pilot and exploration projects. Supports the systematic collaboration of scientists with information specialists.

14. Thank you very much for your attention! Stefan.Winkler-Nees@dfg.de