Link data management and grant process
From GRDI2020
This is a GRDI recommendation; return to Main Page with all the challenges or to recommendations
Context and Challenges
The most direct way to researchers' awareness goes through the grant process.
This is already being implemented by several funding organisations, but has not yet gained wide-spread traction and experience:
- US NSF - National Science Foundation: 'Scientists seeking funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will soon need to spell out how they plan to manage the data they hope to collect.'
- German DFG - German Research Foundation. Grant Guidelines.
- EU Digital Agenda - Mentioned in European policy white paper for 2020, Framework Programme 8. And EC next steps: "to enhance access to research data and results at both the European and national levels"
Recommendation
"Sugarcoat the bitter pill" requirement to present plans for long-term preservation of data by linking it to a big carrot (access to funding). Once this link is established, it automatically creates a market demand for a certification framework for data preservation service and a better business case for provision of long-term preservation services.
Get a buy-in from public and private funding agencies and ensure that the budget planning and review mechanisms support data management and preservation aspects. Demanding an outline for sustainability of the data produced might either be based on explicitly reserving part of the grant for paying for this kind of services, or by including the long-term preservation of data in the "acceptable overheads" of accredited organisations (like libraries are today for the universities).
The grant mechanism could also be used to support the translators if the proposal would ask the research group to identify contact person(s) that will be able to help with semantic interoperability questions related to data produced with the grant.
Stakeholders and Impact
This will increase awareness of the importance of data, changing from the current attitude that sometimes states that "money spent on data management would be better spent on the real research".
Funding organisations in general could be the ones to drive the change.
