Research Focus: A review of the 5th SaxFDM Conference: Making research data accessible and fostering skills

On 17 September 2024, the 5th SaxFDM Conference took place at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg. The event focused on how research data can be made more accessible and how data management skills can be taught. The conference was organised by the Saxon State Initiative for Research Data Management (SaxFDM), whose 28 members include Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (HSMW). Guests and speakers from across Germany attended the event and provided valuable insights.

Focus on research data management

It quickly became clear that there are numerous initiatives supporting researchers and students as they get started with research data management (RDM). These initiatives offer examples of best practice and demonstrate how RDM can be structurally embedded within organisations.

Interesting opportunities for researchers at HSMW

During the conference, a number of particularly useful resources for students, academics and researchers were presented:

For students

• RDM Logbook – Data Management for Theses
  Students should be made aware of research data management (RDM) at an early stage and supported in handling their data, as research data can also be generated in theses. To this end, the Brandenburg State RDM Initiative has developed the checklist (link to) ‘RDM Logbook – Data Management for Final Theses’, which explains the basics of RDM, highlights important data-related issues and encourages the use of a data management plan. It is suitable as a supplement to courses and advisory sessions for students across all disciplines.

For beginners & advanced learners

• Data Literacy
  Toolbox The (link to) Data Literacy Toolbox offers free online courses for beginners and advanced learners. Topics such as the data lifecycle, programming in Python and machine learning are covered. A practical toolkit for expanding your data management skills.

Overview of IT tools

• ToolPool Health Research
  The project (Link to) Health Research ToolPool provides IT tools, research protocol templates and software for data anonymisation, harmonisation and analysis. Although the focus is on health research, many of the tools are also useful for other research areas.

Please note: This year’s (Link to) Research Day will take place on Wednesday 23 October 2024, from 1.00 pm to 4.30 pm in Studio B. The SaxFDM expert team will give a short presentation on research data management (RDM) and will be available afterwards to answer questions. The team offers (link to) consultancy services on RDM for projects, academic departments and organisations, either online or on-site by arrangement.

Contact person for research management
If you are interested in the topic of research management or have any questions, please contact Ms (email to) Maria Rein from the Research Department at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences.

Text: Julia Gerstenberg, Maria Rein