Kategorie: ‘Allgemein’
RDM Checklist: Be Well Prepared for Your Vacation
Source: Own Illustration
Vacation season is just around the corner, and for many researchers, that means a well-deserved break. But before you put your laptop away for a few days or weeks, it’s worth taking a quick look at research data management (RDM). With just a little preparation, you can ensure that your research data is protected, that projects can continue to run smoothly even while you’re away, and that your substitutes have all the necessary information at their fingertips. In this post, we provide an overview of the most important steps you should take regarding research data management before going on vacation.
Publishing Research Data: Questions to Clarify in Advance
Source: Own Illustration
In the previous post, “Creative Commons Licenses Explained Simply,” we explained how Creative Commons licenses work and the options they offer for making scholarly works available for reuse.
However, choosing an appropriate Creative Commons license is just one step toward publishing research data. Various legal and organizational issues should be clarified in advance. These include, for example, whether the research data may be published at all, whether intellectual property rights apply to it, and which license or repository is appropriate in each case.
This post provides an overview of the most important issues and highlights what researchers should keep in mind when publishing their research data.
Creative Commons Licenses Explained Simply
Source: creativecommons.org
Whether it’s a scientific publication, presentation, graphic, or teaching material: Anyone who publishes research findings should specify how others are permitted to use them. This is exactly where licenses come into play.
They clarify whether content may be shared, modified, or even used commercially. In this way, they promote the reuse of scientific findings and support the goals of Open Science.
Creative Commons licenses (CC licenses) are an internationally established licensing system. But what do the various abbreviations actually mean, and which license is suitable for which purpose?
ELN@RWTH: Digitizing Research Documentation
Source: Own Illustration
Experiment logs, measurement data, analyses, and notes are part of everyday research life. However, this information is often stored in various locations: in lab notebooks, on network drives, in email attachments, or on personal computers. This can make it difficult to retrieve data, trace workflows, or share information with colleagues.
Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs) offer a digital solution to this problem. They enable structured documentation of research processes and help researchers make their work traceable, efficient, and accessible over the long term.
From Alexandria to the World Wide Web: A Brief History of Research Data Management
Source: Magnific
When people talk about research data management (RDM) today, many immediately think of metadata, repositories, or the FAIR principles. The fundamental idea behind it, however, is much older. Long before digital technologies existed, people faced the challenge of collecting and organizing knowledge and making it accessible to future generations.
FDM Network Meeting May 2026: Practice Special
Source: Own Illustration
At the FDM network meeting on May 28, 2026, data stewards and other individuals involved in FDM gathered for a practical workshop to discuss the latest developments in research data management (FDM) within their respective projects in a face-to-face setting.
State Initiative for Research Data Management – fdm.nrw
Source: fdm.nrw
The state office of the State Initiative for Research Data Management (abbreviated as Landesinitiative fdm.nrw) serves as the central hub for strategic developments in research data management (RDM) in North Rhine-Westphalia. Since its founding in 2017, it has been connecting universities and stakeholders across the state, supporting the establishment and expansion of RDM structures and state-level RDM services, and providing information on current, cross-cutting developments in RDM. In addition, the Landesinitiative fdm.nrw supports the implementation of the DH.NRW State RDM Concept, which was published in 2024. With its information, networking, and exchange offerings, the fdm.nrw state initiative is aimed in particular at FDM staff at universities.
In this blog post, you will find an overview of the development of the fdm.nrw state initiative from its founding to the present, as well as its key areas of activity and its collaboration with RWTH.
NFDI-MatWerk/FAIRmat Spring School 2026 in Erlangen
Source: Dr. Ahmed Esam Ahmed Mansour
From April 13 to 16, 2026, the NFDI-MatWerk/FAIRmat Spring School 2026 took place at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) on the topic of “Research Data Management in Materials Science and Engineering.” A total of 17 participants, including advanced master’s students, doctoral candidates, postdocs, and early-career researchers, came together to engage intensively with FAIR research data practices and practical tools for everyday research.
RDM Network Meeting in April 2026: RDMO in Practice
Source: Own Illustration
The RDM Network Meeting on April 23, 2026, focused on the creation, organization, and use of data management plans (DMPs) in collaborative projects using the Research Data Management Organizer (RDMO).
The RDM Network Meeting is a monthly forum for data management officers, practitioners, and interested parties. It combines thematic presentations with open discussion on current practical issues and provides a space for networking and discussion.
Happy Birthday, Coscine!
Source: Own Illustration
In April 2026, Coscine will celebrate its third anniversary of regular operation! What began as a project during the pilot phase to make it easier for researchers to work with data has evolved over these three years into a vibrant, growing platform that has since become a central infrastructure in research data management. To mark this third anniversary, we look back on Coscine’s journey in this post.
