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Funders’ data policies and costs. Sarah Jones DCC, University of Glasgow sarah.jones@glasgow.ac.uk Twitter: sjDCC. Funded by:. Research funders’ policies. www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/overview-funders-data-policies. Summary page for each funder.
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Funders’ data policies and costs Sarah Jones DCC, University of Glasgow sarah.jones@glasgow.ac.uk Twitter: sjDCC Funded by:
Research funders’ policies www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/overview-funders-data-policies
Summary page for each funder http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/research-funding-policies/ahrc
Key differences in policies • EPSRC does not want DMPs in grant applications • Preservation periods range from 3 years to in perpetuity • most funders ask for 10+ years • ESRC and NERC support designated data centres • ESRC and NERC may withhold the final grant payment if data aren’t offered for deposit • Cancer Research UK states explicitly that it will NOT provide additional funds for RDM
Ultimately funders expect: • timely release of data • once patents are filed or on (acceptance for) publication • open data sharing • minimal or no restrictions if possible • preservation of data • typically 10+ years for data of ‘long-term value’ See the RCUK Common Principles on data policy: www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/DataPolicy.aspx
RCUK Common Principles in brief • Make data openly available where possible • Have policies & plans. Preserve data of long-term value • Metadata for discovery / reuse. Link to data from publications • Be mindful of legal, ethical and commercial constraints • Allow limited embargoes to protect the effort of creators • Acknowledge sources to recognise IP and abide by T&Cs • Ensure cost-effective use of public funds for RDM http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/DataPolicy.aspx
Eligible costs The RCUK Common Principles state that: “It is appropriate to use public funds to support the management and sharing of publicly-funded research data.” However, it is unclear exactly what costs can be included in grant applications and how. The DCC held an RDMF event with funders to discuss this.
RDMF: funding RDM 25th April 2013 at Aston University www.dcc.ac.uk/events/research-data-management-forum-rdmf/ rdmf-special-event-funding-research-data-management Included a panel with representatives from BBSRC, EPSRC, NERC, MRC, STFC and the Wellcome Trust to answer 30 questions submitted by audience Blog reports: • A conversation with the funders: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/blog/conversation-funders • Funding RDM: https://research-computing.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2013/05/01/funding-rdm • For which RDM activities will UK research funders pay? http://mrdevidence.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2013/05/01/for-which-rdm-activities-will-uk-research-funders-pay
What RDM cost can be included? Need to distinguish between the costs that are incurred during a project and those that arise afterwards. • In-project (direct) costs: • covers hardware, staff, expenses, costs of preparing data & metadata... • Post project (largely indirect) costs: • existing services should be used where possible • where an institution is going to provide a data repository, costs should be met through FEC • outsourcing to a third-party is also an option Owing to its charity status, the Wellcome Trust in general only pays directly incurred costs.
How should costs be included? • In-project costs should be included in the direct costs for a project • Post-project costs could be direct (e.g. charges levied by data centres) but typically fall into indirects as universities should provide infrastructure to support RDM • The Justifications of Resources should, where possible, separate out the following RDM cost elements: • cost of collecting data • the cost of curating data • the cost of analysing data • the cost of preservation and sharing
Key messages • Research data management is but one aspect of an institution’s research governance and should not be regarded as an optional addition or something peripheral to it. • DMPs should make clear what is provided and what activities are being charged against a grant - funders do not expect to pay for something twice. • There is no rule of thumb to be used to measure the proportion of a grant that may acceptably be spent on research data management. The cost of RDM is project-specific and entirely depends on the type of work. • It may be possible to set up small research facilities to recover the cost of RDM (e.g. similar to provision of HPC), possibly as a cross-institutional service. However, clear added value needs to be shown to the funders and research community. A small research facility needs to be very close to the research. It is about creating highly specialised services.
Thanks – any questions? DCC guidance, tools and case studies: www.dcc.ac.uk/resources Follow us on twitter: @digitalcuration and #ukdcc