Teaching the Best Research Data Management Practices to PhD Students

Abstract

Good Research Data Management (RDM) practices make it easier for researchers to conduct their research and ensure their data is preserved and stored securely for the long-term. Archiving is one of the last stages of Research Data Lifecycle and deals with depositing and preserving datasets at the end of a project in a suitable storage location (repositories, local server, or hard drive). Students may not find data management topic as interesting as their core course topics. This can result in lack of students’ knowledge of the importance and benefits of good data management practices for their studies. At Warwick, I design and deliver Research Data Management & Planning (RDM&P) case study sessions to PhD students. Students learn different elements of RDM and importance of RDM for long-term preservation. Students work in groups to develop and present Data Management Plan (DMP) and put RDM&P learning into practice. In this presentation, I briefly introduce the above case study, feedbacks received from students across different disciplines and further steps.