Data management planning
Careful planning of the data management within the scope of your research project facilitates administration of research data all along the data life cycle and thus provides you with greater latitude for your actual research.
Before embarking on your research project, you should consider:
- How do I document the data I have collected and how do I file them?
- Which legal aspects do I have to consider?
- How much storage capacity do I need?
- Where do I publish my data and where do I want to make them available for subsequent use?
Securing research funding
The Data Management Plan (DMP) is often required by research funding agencies such as the external page Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and external page Horizon Europe. Even without these external guidelines, a DMP is expected for a research project with temporal boundaries at ETH Zurich (see RDM Guidelines). It is intended to define the “roadmap” for researchers during their research project and documents the long-term handling of the research data collected.
Please note: for the current status of Switzerland in Horizon Europe please check the information from EU GrantsAccess.
The DMP is a condition for the release of funds and must be updated in the course of the project to reflect its implementation in the running project.
Both the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and Horizon Europe have drawn up guidelines for the preparation of a DMP and for its content:
- external page SNSF guidelines and external page DMP content
- Horizon Europe external page Open Science Factsheet and external page Template for the Data Management Plan
At present, DMPs are not included in a project application’s scientific assessment. However, specific requirements may be imposed in the event that the DMP leaves any questions open. Please be advised that in Horizon Europe, indications on Open Science practices are expected as part of the grant proposal and will be evaluated with it.
Data management strategy
Specific guidelines for handling research data within one or across several research groups foster structured and uniform data management. Defined rules facilitate the planning of new projects and offer new project members a helpful guide to the established standards.
We are happy to support you with developing a data management strategy (DMS) for your research group and beyond. Please us directly in order to assess your needs in a first step. In addition, you can find an exemplary template for your own DMS and corresponding instructions on our wiki.
Standards and guidelines
Research data management is part of good scientific practice, a fundamental principle of research that is defined at ETH Zurich in the “ETH Zurich Guidelines on scientific integrity” and the “Guidelines for Research Data Management at ETH Zurich”.
In addition, research funder guidelines and other legal parameters must also be taken into account when planning and implementing research data management processes (e.g. copyright, data privacy, Human Research Act (HRA)).
More information about standards and guidelines on the following topics:
- Internal ETH guidelines
- Open access policies of research funding agencies
- Open research data policies of research funding agencies
- FAIR data principles
- Recommendations for using repositories (by SNSF)
Data management plan
In the Data Management Plan (DMP), you draw up a brief document describing how you intend to handle research data within your project. In the process, you should describe the individual phases of the research data life cycle.
The following questions should provide you with support in formulating your DMP:
- What data are collected, observed, generated or reused?
- How are these data collected, observed, generated or reused?
- What documentation and metadata are created in addition to the original data?
- How are ethical questions addressed and approached?
- How is access to the data provided and its security guaranteed?
- How are copyright and intellectual property rights dealt with?
- How are the data stored and how are backups created?
- What is the approach to long-term archiving of the data?
- How and where are the data shared (e.g. in the public sphere or within the research community)?
- Is it necessary to publish a limited selection of the data in order to protect confidential information?
- Are the selected repositories operated by non-profit organisations, and do these comply with FAIR data principles?
Practical tips for preparing your DMP for the SNSF can be found in the step-by-step guide created by the ETH Library in collaboration with the external page EPFL Library and other project partners within the external page DLCM project. For projects without explicit funder requirements, we provide a general DMP template and corresponding instructions which takes into account the specific conditions at ETH Zurich.
Additional guides and templates for completing a DMP can be found under «What is a Data Management Plan» on our wiki.
- We support you in the preparation of your DMP and offer you a DMP review before you submit it to the respective research funding agency (SNSF, Horizon Europe).
- On request, we will review your data management plan with regard to its plausibility and conformity with the research funding agencies' guidelines. The review is carried out in a four-eye procedure, in which two experts from the ETH Library review your DMP; if necessary, other experts from the ETH Library or the Scientific IT Services can be consulted. It is also possible to resubmit the DMP for review after an initial review and correction.
- Your data and the DMP will be treated confidentially at all times.
