Kategorie: ‘Services’
Where Should I Store My Research Data? A Decision-Making Guide for RWTH
Source: Own Illustration
At the very latest when research data needs to be stored, archived, or published in a structured manner, an important question arises: Where is the best place to store the data?
At RWTH, various services are available to researchers. At the same time, there are numerous discipline-specific repositories tailored to the needs of individual fields. The right choice depends less on the file format and more on the goal: Will the data be actively used? Does it need to be preserved long-term? Or should it be published and made available for reuse?
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.
Coscine in Everyday Work – Development, Service, and Marketing
Source: Own Illustration
There is much more to a platform like Coscine than just technical development. To enable researchers to manage and store their data in a structured way and collaborate on projects, various departments must work closely together. At Coscine, two teams in particular take on key roles: the Development Team and the Service Management Team. These are complemented by other departments such as Communications and Marketing, which support the platform’s visibility.
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.
Coscine Support Summit 2026 For Efficient Support Workflows
Source: Own Illustration
On April 22, 2026, the Coscine Support Summit took place at the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University. Around 15 participants from seven different universities came together to engage in an in-depth exchange on key support processes and to collaborate on their further development. The focus was particularly on the application for and review of storage resources.
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.
Data Stewards – Agents of Change
Source: Own Illustration
On March 9 and 10, 2026, the one-and-a-half-day workshop “Agents of Change: Change Management for Data Stewards—Strengthening Roles, Shaping Change” took place. The workshop was specifically aimed at the FDM network at RWTH Aachen University and thus at all those who support researchers in research data management (FDM) and contribute to achieving the goals of FAIR research data and Open Science. The workshop provided an opportunity to reflect on one’s own role in FDM and to develop concrete strategies for change processes within one’s own work environment.
Your Feedback for the Future of Coscine
Source: Own Illustration
In 2026, we would like to invite you once again to participate in our Coscine user survey. From March 23 to April 30, 2026, you will have the opportunity to share your experiences with us and actively help shape the future of Coscine.
Policies That Bring People Together: Coscine Policies as a Guide for FAIR RDM!
Source: Own Illustration
In today’s digital research landscape, it is crucial to ensure that research data management and use are clear and transparent. For this reason, the Service Management Team, in cooperation with RDM staff from other universities, has drafted several policy documents related to Coscine and DataStorage.nrw over the past few months. In this blog post, we take a closer look at these documents and their significance for review processes in North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond.
RSS Feed for Researchers: Latest Information On RDM
Source: Own Illustration
To work efficiently in everyday research, it is important to stay informed about new developments. With the RSS feed from the Research Data Blog, researchers and anyone interested in RDM will automatically receive all new posts, tips, and best practices related to research data management (RDM) directly in their email client, such as Outlook.
