During 2020, the project Research Data in the Organisation was actively mapping the processes, needs and shortcomings related to the management of research data. The project equally aimed at outlining the university’s internal process model, with responsible parties identified, for collecting and storing information on the research data produced within the university. The project started at the beginning of 2020 with background data collection and visits to the faculties, and, in this phase, cooperation was carried out especially with two other data-related projects, the Research Data Protection, and the Long-Term Preservation of Research Data.
In the management of research data throughout the organisation, it is essential to have up-to-date information on new research data produced. This is a prerequisite especially for meeting the requirements set by data protection legislation and the Act on Information Management in Public Administration. As a result, the project drew up a proposal for harvesting the metadata of research data into the university research information system (TUNICRIS). The development and initiation of the actual harvesting will take place during 2021.
The project also examined the best ways to get access to the research data to be produced in new projects. As a result, the cooperation with the research services and the financial services has been launched to collect information about the research data produced especially within the Academy of Finland’s projects. Next, as a separate project, the aim is to collect information about projects’ research data outputs though machine-actionable data management plans (DMPs).
The key output of the project was the university’s process model for collecting information on research data, which outlines existing systems, services and solutions, services to be developed in the future, as well as the responsible parties involved in the process. From the point of view of research data management in the organisation, system and development plans of the university’s IT services are essential in the formation of the entire university-level process. In addition, the objectives of the Research Data Management Steering Group, with its term starting at the beginning of 2021, will influence the management of research data within the organisation.
