The University of Edinburgh has over 33,000 students and 9,000 staff across three colleges covering a broad range of research disciplines. 83% of the University's research is rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. The University has prioritized data science and launched Edinburgh Data Science in 2014. It provides core research data management infrastructure to support good research practices. This includes training, policies, online data management planning tools, storage infrastructure, and repositories for active data use and long-term archiving. Challenges include promoting cultural change and integrating multiple research data services as needs evolve rapidly.

1. Research Data Management at
The University of Edinburgh
Stuart Lewis
Deputy Director, Library & University Collections
Head of Research and Learning Services

2. The University of Edinburgh
• The context to our work:
• A large thriving University: 33,609 students, 8,970 staff
• Breadth of research disciplines across three colleges:
• Humanities and Social Science
• Science and Engineering
• Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
• 83% of University’s research activity is in the highest category ‘world leading’
and ‘internationally excellent’

3. The University of Edinburgh
• A big focus on data science
• The University of Edinburgh has prioritised data science and formally launched
‘Edinburgh Data Science’ in November 2014 as a focus for our activities across
all Colleges.
• The mission of EDS is to be a world leading data science environment by
promoting the highest standards of data science research, innovation and
education.
• A member of the £42 million Alan Turing Institute
• Headed by the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Oxford, Warwick and UCL -
the Alan Turing Institute will attract the best data scientists and mathematicians
from the UK and across the globe to break new boundaries in how we use big
data in a fast moving, competitive world.

4. The University of Edinburgh
• But what about infrastructure for everybody?
• We must provide core infrastructure for all researchers
to support good research data management

5. The next fifteen minutes…
• Background
• Our RDM service
• The challenges we face
• A few successes
• Where next?

6. Service delivery
• Information Services at the University of Edinburgh
• Library & University Collections
• User Services
• IT Infrastructure
• IT Applications
• Learning Teaching and Web
• Digital Curation Centre and EDINA

7. Research Data Management Policies
• Growing policy support for Research Data Management
• University of Edinburgh Policy – Approved by University Court May 2011
• http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-
services/about/policies-and-regulations/research-data-policy
• “The University adopts the following policy on Research Data Management. It
is acknowledged that this is an aspirational policy, and that implementation
will take some years.”

8. Research Data Management Policies
• Joint responsibilities:
• Responsibility of the PI:
• “2. Responsibility for research data management through a sound research data
management plan during any research project or programme lies primarily with Principal
Investigators (PIs).”
• “3. All new research proposals [from date of adoption] must include research data
management plans or protocols that explicitly address data capture, management, integrity,
confidentiality, retention, sharing and publication.”
• University-level responsibilities:
• “4. The University will provide training, support, advice and where appropriate guidelines
and templates for the research data management and research data management plans.”
• “5. The University will provide mechanisms and services for storage, backup, registration,
deposit and retention of research data assets in support of current and future access, during
and after completion of research projects.”

9. University of Edinburgh RDM Programme
• Research Data Management Programme
• Delivered by Information Services
• Supported by central funding
• £1.3m (£1m hardware / £0.3m staffing)
• Phase 1: August 2012 to May 2015
• RDM Roadmap: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-
services/about/strategy-planning/rdm-roadmap

10. Research Data Management Services
Data Management Support
Data
Management
Planning
Active Data
Infrastructure
Data
Stewardship

11. Data Management Planning
• DMPOnline National tool to create Data Management Plans
• https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/

12. Active Data Infrastructure
• DataStore
• 0.5 TB per person (PGRs upwards) 1.6PB
• Network drive
• Half can be shared / grouped
• Personal allocation
• Extra can be purchased by grants @ £200 per TB per year
• DataSync
• OwnCloud
• Open Source DropBox-like web / sharing / sync system

13. Active Data Infrastructure - collaboration
• Subversion
• Source code control system
• Allows software to be developed collaboratively
• Possible move to GitLab (open source equivalent of GitHub)
• Wiki
• Wiki for projects or teams
• Atlassian Confluence

14. Data Stewardship
• PURE
• Current Research Information System
• Allows datasets to be described, and linked to if shared online
• Person A, was awarded Grant B,
which funded Equipment C,
which created data D,
which generated paper E

15. Data Stewardship
• DataVault
• Long term archival storage
• Move data from DataStore
• Web-based system
• In development
• With Manchester University
• Sponsored by Jisc
• http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/jiscdatavault/

16. Data Stewardship
• DataShare
• Online open data repository
• Uses the DSpace open source repository platform
• Creates DOIs for datasets
• http://datashare.is.ed.ac.uk/

17. Data Management Support
• Awareness raising sessions
• Training courses
• On-demand support
• MANTRA online course
• http://datalib.edina.ac.uk/mantra/

18. Challenges…
• Confusion in service names
• DataStore
• DataSync
• DataShare
• DataVault

19. Challenges…
• Service names not always used
• Devolved IT
• What do they call it?
• Hard to measure outreach (EPSRC survey)

20. Challenges…
• Collecting case studies
• Current research administration system can’t ‘search’ for DMPs
• School research administrators are a good source

21. Challenges…
• Cultivating culture change
• It’s slow!
• Compare to Open Access
• Awareness raising
• Awareness raising
• Awareness raising
• Changing services and funder expectations
• New stories to tell, new excuses to visit again

22. Challenges…
• Anticipating support
• Hundreds of grant proposals submitted
• DMP support required with fast turn-around
• Thousands of research active staff
• HelpDesk (1st line support)
• RDM team / service teams (2nd line support)
• Surges in activity
• EPSRC May 2015

23. Successes…
• Dealing with Data conference
• First run in 2014 as an RDM launch event
• Half-day internal conference
• All levels
• Anything to do with dealing with data!
• How to anonymise an MRI
• Data visualisation in a carpet
• Running again 2015: whole day, keynotes etc

24. Successes…
• Training research administrators
• Research administrators in Schools, assist with grant proposals
• Therefore perfect allies!
• Provide standard ‘RDM Introduction’ courses
• Ssshh… Just change the title and cover sheet!

25. Successes…
• Service delivery and governance
• Academic-led ‘Steering Group’ (Prof. Peter Clarke)
• Representative from each College, research office
• Reports to Library Committee, IT Committee, KSC, Research Policy Group
• Meets every couple of months
• Practitioner-led ‘Action Group’
• Representatives from across Information Services
• Each team / interested party included
• Fortnightly / monthly

26. Where next?
• Still to do:
• Further local DMP guidance in DMPOnline
• Full DMP quick turn-around service
• Data Catalogue in PURE: embedding
• Best integration between systems (e.g. data catalogue, vault, repository)
• Easy grant costings
• Embedded support service for grants

27. Where next?
• New activities:
• Software management plans? (with SSI)
• Review storage allocations and models
• Investigate electronic lab notebooks
• Software preservation
• Sharing large data
• Trusted Research Environments (safe havens)
• Plenty to keep us busy!

28. Enjoy the ride!

29. Research Data Management at
The University of Edinburgh
stuart.lewis@ed.ac.uk
@stuartlewis