Sharing and re-use of research data are essential to verify research findings and foster new research. Science Europe promotes data sharing by working on the alignment of research data management policies and practices, and supports researchers with clear guidance.
Quality-assured research data are key building blocks of the research process and often generate impact that goes well beyond their initial purpose. Sharing and re-use of data are seen as good scientific practice. It is indispensable in verifying research findings and can help to maximise the value of the original investment as the data are highly valuable in terms of supporting new research.
Science Europe’s Member Organisations either have a research data policy in place which they update when needed or are currently developing policies. They aim to encourage their researchers to share their data and to provide researchers with guidance on good data management.
Science Europe supports the sharing of data and promotes data being FAIR, i.e. Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable. Data sharing requires good research data management (RDM). There is currently a lot of variation in RDM policies which can be confusing for researchers. Science Europe fosters the international alignment of RDM policies to facilitate RDM for researchers. RDM should not be a bureaucratic burden but a useful support when planning and conducting a research project.
Over the last two years, Science Europe has issued two publications, the ‘Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management’ and the ‘Framework for Discipline-specific Research Data Management policies.’ Both publications aim to align RDM policies across organisations. Science Europe promotes and builds on these outputs to achieve an even broader alignment across the research stakeholder community. The aim is to support researchers in their data management by providing clarity and clear guidelines, and reduce any administrative burden.
| Country | Organisation | Acronym | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Austrian Science Fund | FWF | Katharina Rieck |
| Belgium | Research Foundation Flanders | FWO | Alexandra Vandervelde |
| Denmark | Danish council for Independent Research | DFF | Johanne Thorup Dalgaard |
| Finland | Academy of Finland | AKA | Harri Hautala |
| France | French National Research Agency | ANR | Zoé Ancion |
| Germany | German Research Foundation | DFG | Michael Royeck |
| Germany | German Research Foundation | DFG | Stefan Winkler-Nees |
| Germany | Leibniz Association | Leibniz | Reiner Mauer |
| Germany | Leibniz Association | Leibniz | Andreas Witt |
| Ireland | Health Research Board | HRB | Aileen Sheehy |
| Ireland | Health Research Board | HRB | Patricia Clarke |
| Italy | National Institute for Nuclear Physics | INFN | Tommaso Boccali |
| Lithuania | Research Council of Lituania | LMT | Artūras Kaklauskas |
| Lithuania | Research Council of Lituania | LMT | Ramunė Rudokienė |
| Luxembourg | National Research Fund | FNR | Tom Jakobs |
| Netherlands | Dutch Research Council | NWO | Hans de Jonge |
| Norway | Research Council of Norway | RCN | Anne Elisabeth Solsnes |
| Poland | Foundation for Polish Science | FNP | Maria Pawłowska |
| Poland | National Science Centre | NCN | Laura Bandura-Morgan |
| Spain | Spanish National Research Council | CSIC | Fernando Aguilar |
| Spain | Spanish National Research Council | CSIC | Joaquín Tintoré |
| Switzerland | Swiss National Science Foundation | SNSF | Katrin Milzow |
| Switzerland | Swiss National Science Foundation | SNSF | Cornelia Sommer |
| Sweden | Swedish Research Council | VR | Sanja Halling |
| United Kingdom | UK Research and Innovation | UKRI | Geraldine Clement-Stoneham |
| United Kingdom | UK Research and Innovation | UKRI | Mark Thorley |
Developed by experts from Science Europe Member Organisations, this guide aims to align research data management (RDM) requirements across various research organisations. Science Europe will work to promote these requirements in order to ensure they are accepted by as many stakeholders as possible.
Our Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management was officially release in January 2019. Ten months later, the guide’s recommendations have found their way into a number of organisational and, in some cases, even national Open Science or data management policies.
Science Europe has been appointed as one of 11 members of the new Executive Board of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
Science Europe and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) launch an initiative for the voluntary international alignment of research data management policies.
Research organisations and funders increasingly ask researchers to create Data Management Plans for their work and proposals. A lack of standardisation means that these can be time-consuming to create and difficult to compare and evaluate. Science Europe presents a framework for the creation of domain-specific protocols that can be used as standardised templates, reducing the administrative burden on both researchers, research organisations, and funders.
Science Europe welcomes the efforts made towards the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). In this open letter, the Governing Board of Science Europe reinforces its view that research data should be permanently, publicly, and freely available for re-use. The proposed EOSC aims to further this goal but a number of important questions still remain.
Science Europe is working to enhance the interoperability of research information systems. This publication sets out common principles to guide their development.
Text and data mining (TDM) is hugely important for science as it can facilitate better research and the free flow of knowledge across borders. This report urges policy-makers to update the legal framework in the context of the upcoming EU copyright reform in order to allow TDM for commercial and non-commercial means, and also to clarify the legal position surrounding it.
This joint briefing paper with Knowledge Exchange informs the discussion on the funding of Research Data Management (RDM) and related infrastructures in Europe, helps raise awareness of the current challenges, and communicates opportunities for co-ordinated action to relevant stakeholders. The paper highlights that the funding of Research Data Infrastructures, enabling RDM, comes from a great variety of sources and institutions that have different responsibilities and that operate at local, national, and international levels.
The Roadmap, approved by the Science Europe General Assembly in November 2013, is Science Europe’s action plan to contribute to the elements of a successful research system. It acts as a framework for voluntary collective activity, providing a long-term strategy for the association. The ‘Priority Action Areas’ are those in which Science Europe members believe that there is a potential to achieve tangible and substantive progress, and where they can add real value by working together.