NORF, FAIRsFAIR and EOSC Synergy Data Steward Instructor Training

Ireland’s National Open Research Forum (NORF), FAIRsFAIR and EOSC Synergy will deliver a three-day workshop on the 12th, 14th and 16th of July 2021 to support the development of data stewardship skills among staff in higher education institutions and other research performing organisations in Ireland. 

As a train-the-trainer workshop, the event is aimed at those within institutions who are engaged in providing support and training on research data management (RDM) and FAIR data. This workshop aims to introduce participants to the key concepts and drivers for Open Science, RDM and FAIR data, to review and discuss local support services, and to identify areas where collaboration on support provision will be beneficial. 

Learning outcomes:

At the end of this workshop, participants will:

• Be able to explain some of the political drivers for RDM, FAIR and Open Data 
• Be able to explain the difference between FAIR and Open Data to researchers  
• Be able to develop training courses to be run at their own institution using open learning resources
• Understand the range of skills and knowledge associated with data stewardship
• Collectively identify areas where collaboration on service provision is most beneficial
• Have established a network of peers providing RDM support in Ireland

Programme overview:

Day 1: Introduction and key messages (12th July, 10:00-12:00 & 14:00-15:00)

• Introduction to RDM, FAIR and Open Science
• Introduction to pedagogy
• Course development activity 
• Introduction to Data Management Plan (DMP) exercise 

Day 2: Data Stewardship skills and knowledge (14th July, 10:00-12:00)

• Understanding Responsible and Open Research: Roles for Data Stewards
• Group discussion (DMP case studies)

Day 3: RDM service development and optimisation (16th July, 10:00-12:00)

• Introduction of RDM service models and functions 
• Group discussion (RDM service development)
• Training activity based on RISE model 
• Group activity to consider future goals and next steps

Speakers:

• Daniel Bangert, Digital Repository of Ireland
• Louise Bezuidenhout, University of Oxford
• Linas Cepinskas, DANS, EOSC Synergy
• Helen Clare, Jisc, EOSC Synergy
• Aoife Coffey, University College Cork
• Joy Davidson, Digital Curation Centre, FAIRsFAIR
• Hugh Shanahan, University of London, FAIRsFAIR
• Venkataraman Shanmugasundaram, Digital Curation Centre

Participation in this workshop is by invitation only, with the aim of bringing together a network of peers from a broad range of institutions across Ireland. For further information, please contact Daniel Bangert, National Open Research Coordinator, DRI (d.bangert@ria.ie) and Aoife Coffey, Research Data Coordinator, UCC (aoife.coffey@ucc.ie). 

This workshop is part of a series organised by FAIRsFAIR and the CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science. An overview of the series is available here. 

Background:

As highlighted in reports by the European Commission and others, data stewardship skills are key to enabling responsible research data management in line with the FAIR principles (to make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). In 2018, the Health Research Board began the process of formalising this role in the Irish landscape through their links with GO FAIR by organising a five-day training programme for the first Irish data stewards. The NORF, FAIRsFAIR and EOSC Synergy workshop seeks to build further capacity and empower a network of peers by bringing together institutional research support staff engaged in training on RDM and FAIR data. 

FAIRsFAIR - Fostering Fair Data Practices in Europe – aims to supply practical solutions for the use of the FAIR data principles throughout the research data life cycle. Its emphasis is on fostering FAIR data culture and the uptake of good practices in making data FAIR. 

EOSC Synergy has the goal to expand the capacity and capabilities of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) by leveraging the experience, effort and resources of national publicly-funded digital infrastructures. In particular, it develops a new channel to support the build up of EOSC human capabilities.

Ireland’s National Open Research Forum (NORF) was established to drive the Irish agenda for open research. Its role is to propose national actions to address the challenges of changing the Irish research system to strengthen, promote or better support open research practices. NORF is currently developing a National Action Plan to help realise the objectives of Ireland’s National Framework on the Transition to an Open Research Environment. The National Open Research Coordinator is based at the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI).