Research Data Management (RDM) plans

A Hands-on, Actionable Workshop for Researchers

Laura Meier, Reema Gupta & Sara Lil Middleton

Following on yesterday’s FAIR session

Related Session Alert

Tuesday 16th September, 10:00 - 11:45: FAIR research data management (slides)

Recap: First Simple FAIR Checklist

Planning Phase (Findable + Reusable)

Active Research (Interoperable + Accessible)

Pre-Publication (All FAIR principles)

Publication (Findable + Accessible)

Today’s Journey

Mastering FAIR Research Data Management…

…with the help of Data Management plans (DMP)

What we’ll cover

  • How to plan Data Management?
  • Why bother planning your Data Management?
  • Tools that support you in planning

🛠️ Tasks

The session is mixed with small exercises and leaves time for you to work on your own Data Management plan.

Engage actively: Share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Your insights will help everyone learn.

Interactive elements: Particify


Join the interactive session:

partici.fi/93557178


We’ll use this for collaborative activities throughout the workshop.

Participation Options

Use an alias name, your real name, or abstain for polls/quizzes in Particify.

Part I: How to plan Data Management?

What is a Data Management plan?

  • Document that outlines how data will be handled during and after a research project
  • Structures Data Management in a way that it is easier to keep track of it

Components of a DMP

Research data life cycle by Jürgen Rohrwild

What belongs in your DMP?

🛠️ Task (~5 minutes)

Imagine you are about to start a new research project. For that you will create a Data Management plan that should cover all data related aspects of your project. In small groups, brainstorm what should be included in this plan - taking into account the specifics of your research discipline.

Research data life cycle by Jürgen Rohrwild

Visit partici.fi/93557178 to participate.

DMP keywords

Part II: Why bother planning your Data Management?

Avoid worst-case scenarios

Data Management plan. The Turing Way Community. This image was created by Scriberia for The Turing Way community and is used under a CC-BY license. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4906004

Why is a DMP helpful?

  • Clarifies central aspects of RDM → structure for and optimization of Data Management
  • Support for your own good scientific work → ensures that your data is complete, accurate, trustworthy and FAIR
  • Data guidelines for the entire course of the project → “living document“

AI-generated, created with GPT-5

Funder requirements

Funder DMP demanded? Submission on application? Content Updates?
European Commission, Horizon Europe Yes Comprehensive plan within the first 6 month of the project Template Yes, in case of changes and at the end of the project
German Research Foundation (DFG) Information on the handling of research data Yes DFG Guidelines, DFG Checklist No
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Depends on the programme If required, yes Depending on the programme; Educational research: Checklist Depends on the programme
Volkswagen Stiftung (VW Foundation) Yes Yes Template for a Base-DMP No

Biernacka, K., et al. (2023). Train-the-Trainer-Konzept zum Thema Forschungsdatenmanagement (Version 5). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10122153

Room for Improvement?

🛠️ Task (~5 minutes)

  • DFG Checklist, section 1: Data description
    How does your project generate new data? Is existing data reused? Which data types (in terms of data formats like image data, text data or measurement data) arise in your project and in what way are they further processed? To what extent do these arise or what is the anticipated data volume?

  • Given answer in a DMP: “The sample data is recorded and organized with specific software. One to three GB of data is generated.”

  • Now it is your turn: Is there anything to improve? Is there anything missing in this answer?

Visit partici.fi/93557178 to participate.

Part III: Tools that support you in planning

Data Management plan tools

  • Software to create Data Management plans
  • Simplified workflow, allows collaborative work
  • Project management tool for handling research data
  • No repository / storage solution: You cannot upload and store your data in a DMP tool

Example: RDMO

Research Data Management Organiser (RDMO)

  • Online-Tool to create DMPs (Open Source)
  • DMPs are stored on local servers (by the LMU)

Features:

  • Use existing DMP templates (called questionnaires)
  • Collaborative Work: Rights- and role management
  • Import and export DMPs → polished, funder-ready DMP
  • Snapshots: Capture different versions of your DMP

Let’s explore RDMO together

https://rdmo.ub.lmu.de/

Now, it’s your turn…

🛠️ Task (~20 minutes)

Use RDMO to start creating a Data Management plan — either for your own research project or for a fictional project you design together in your group.

  1. Log in to RDMO: rdmo.ub.lmu.de
  2. Create a new project using the European Research Council (ERC) catalog.
  3. Work through the questions, thinking carefully about:
    • What types of data you will collect or generate?
    • Which file formats will be used?
    • How you will organize and name files?
    • What metadata and identifiers will you use?
    • Where to publish your data under which conditions?

Wrap-Up: From Plan to FAIR

Planning is everything

… is it?

  • Try not to get lost in the details.
  • Use the DMP as a management tool to keep an overview of your tasks.
  • Update your DMP as you go - it’s an evolving process and doesn’t need to include all details from the start.
  • Take advantage of counseling services.

University library: RDM services

  • RDM information:
    • First contact point for questions concerning Research Data Management (RDM)
    • DMP tool, repositories for data publications, DOI registration, advice & training for all LMU members
    • Contact via rdm@ub.uni-muenchen.de or -3560
  • Research Data LMU: https://fdm.ub.lmu.de/

OPTIONAL Follow-Up

The content of this session is part of the (self-guided) tutorial for FAIR Research Data Management.1

You can use it to review today’s material and access some questions and example answers from a DMP.

Thank You! Questions?