My name is Judith Dähne (Daehne). I am the Research Data Support Officer of RheinMain University of Applied Sciences.

When I started to think about research data management (RDM) around 2015, MANTRA   provided my first opportunity learn about RDM and how to handle data correctly. I also discovered DMPonline, delivered by the Digital Curation Centre, and it therefore seemed to me that Edinburgh was somehow the cradle of RDM.

When I heard of the final opportunity to visit the UK with the EU’s ERASMUS programme (it will stop in May 2023) I was keen to apply for a visit with the Research Data Support team of the University of Edinburgh… I am really happy that I landed this wonderful opportunity of a short job shadowing visit.

I attended several meetings and training sessions of the Research Data Service team. I am impressed how much support and aid is provided for the researchers. The infrastructure of storage and exchange like DataStore, DataSync, DataShare, DataVault forms the technical basis of the support.

Even more important, in my opinion, is the personal backing and advice of the data management team.You might just ask your questions by pressing one of the “Contact us” buttons  and there you find email and phone numbers of the research data team at your finger tips.

And the team really takes care over every single dataset that is loaded in DataShare: how to enhance the metadata and how to make it more visible for the scientific community. Not many institutional repositories are curated in such a detailed way – I will take home some precious tips and workflows!

One sticking point, however, is the same as with us: How do we make the services known? How do we reach as many researchers as possible? And how can the transformation to more open science then succeed? Perhaps to just carry on with talking and teaching seems the only way…

Robin, Simon and Judith enjoy a working lunch at Howie’s

Research data are a social good and data management supports the verification and replication in science. Ultimately transparency, openness and good data management strengthen the credibility of science and help to counter climate change deniers and conspiracy theorists.  To emphasise this argument, like here in Edinburgh, is also a very important take home message for me.

I would like to thank Robin & her team for sharing their knowledge and their hospitality! I hope we stay in touch.

Guest blog post by Judith Dähne
RheinMain University of Applied Sciences