Research Data Management Plans

The requirements of individual funders with regard to research data are not uniform, and are also subject to regular change. Only the current requirements of the DFG and the EU's Horizon 2020 funding line are discussed here:

• DFG: The DFG pages provide general information on handling research data. In addition, the requirements for the aspects to be presented in the application regarding research data can also be found in the guidelines for the respective projects applied for. Among other things, research data should be made available in data repositories or archives, provided that reusable data are generated in the project. According to the DFG recommendations "To ensure good scientific practice", primary research data should be retained for ten years.
• Horizon 2020: There are general guidelines for the management of research data, whereby the goal should be findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable research data. In the project application, information on emerging research data and their subsequent use must already be submitted. In addition, each new proposal automatically participates in the Open Research Data Pilot, so it is necessary to submit an initial version of a data management plan in the first six months of the project.

Many research funders require that a so-called data management plan be submitted. This requires information on existing data, data generated in the project including its internal management, legal aspects, costs, archiving and data publication.

Tools for creating data management plans are:

Germany:

• DFG-funded RDMO project: the goal is to provide software that supports the structured planning, implementation, and management of research data management. One aspect is the generation of a suitable representation for funding applications. A prototype is already available.
• HU Berlin provides examples for data management plans for Horizon 2020, DFG and BMBF.

Worldwide:

• DMP tool of the University of Califonia Curation Center of the Califonia Digital Library: creation tool for DMPs (designed for the funding landscape in the USA) and examples of plans.
• UK Digital Curation Center's DMPonline: Creation tool for DMPs (adapted to the funding situation in the UK), usable for Horizon 2020 (for use in German-speaking countries, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has created a guide).

The Office for research and early career support offers information on research programs and support for project initiation.

• The WissGrid project produced the handout Leitfaden zum Forschungsdatenmanagement (Guide to Research Data Management).