Leeds RoaDMaP Project: JISC Final Report

Leeds RoaDMaP (Leeds Research Data Management Pilot) which ran from Jan 2012 to June 2013 was one of several infrastructure projects funded under the JISC Managing Research Data Programme 2011-13. Our project investigated core elements of a research data management infrastructure including policies, data management plans and guidelines, processes, systems, support and training. Our findings are likely to be of interest to HEIs at an early stage of creating a research data management service and those with a particular interest in our three case study disciplines: biomedical engineering, music (specifically film music) and sociology (particularly qualitative, longitudinal data).

During the project, a new Research Data Management Policy was introduced and a research data web site created to support it. We piloted the Digital Curation Centre’s data management planning tool, DMPOnline, feeding back its pros and cons. Stakeholder groups for research data management were identified and training delivered to early career researchers and research support staff; materials are available online for re-use. An online survey of research data at the institution illustrated some Faculty variations in data management practice and provided a profile of the size and location of research data at the institutions (the survey and results are available online). Interviews with case study researchers revealed varying attitudes towards data sharing and some concerns about the level of openness expected by research funders. This led us to consider managed access to research data, building this into our functional requirements for a research data repository. Various repository candidates were considered; towards the end of the project most effort was directed towards the EPrints open source platform, which will be taken forward post-project as our pilot data repository. Archival storage models were reviewed with particular attention to archiving as a service. We analysed how very large data sets or data with access restrictions may be served to requesters and started proof of concept work in this area.

The project acted as a catalyst for institutional change, raising awareness of research data management issues and highlighting areas where Leeds could improve support and gain efficiencies; it provided a springboard for further institutional funding and helped define what immediate actions we should take. Project staff also contributed to national and regional research data management discussions