RDM Forum is a newly created platform to bring together both researchers and research & IT support staff from across the University whose role involves helping academics in managing their research data. The aim of the Forum is to share good practice, exchange experiences as well as discuss current and future challenges related to data curation, preservation and publishing. We hope that the Forum will allow its participants to learn from one another and gain a new perspective on some common issues.

The Forum takes the form of meetings as well as e-mail updates (done through the RDM Forum mailing list) and an online platform (SharePoint website) for sharing useful resources, engaging with each other and keeping up-to-date with recent developments in RDM.

The first meeting took place on 7th September 2016. There were 24 in attendance and participants had the opportunity to introduce themselves, ask questions, and provide their expectations and suggestions for future RDM Forum meetings, which have been summarised below:

• Overcoming challenges:
  • Supporting academic engagement
  • Going beyond funder requirements
  • Engagement beyond training
  • Avoiding last-minute arrangements
  • Addressing concerns about data sharing and reuse
• Finding solutions that will work
  • Early training
  • Establishing workflows for standard processes
  • Developing an Information Governance structure for data
  • Sharing real-life scenarios
• Forum structure
  • Forming several user groups focused on specific aspects of RDM
  • Organising meetings around specific themes
  • Updates from Research Data Service team
  • Forum as a platform for training
  • Forum to meet every two months at different locations

The Forum is only open to the University of Edinburgh staff and postgraduate research students. If you are interested in joining the Forum mailing list you can do so at: https://mlist.is.ed.ac.uk/lists/info/rdm-forum
RDM Forum SharePoint website (access by request) is available at:
https://uoe.sharepoint.com/sites/rdmforum

Cuna Ekmekcioglu
Senior Research Data Officer