Research Data Training: Semester 1 2020/21

A universal truth: things are a bit weird just now. So over the past few months we have been working hard to convert our popular face-to-face training workshops for online delivery. Below you will find a list of the courses we’ve scheduled to delivery during semester 1 using Collaborate virtual classroom. Come along and join us!

Full details about each course are on our training webpage https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/research-support/research-data-service/training

Workshop Audience Date Time Booking Link
Writing A Data Management Plan for Your Research (RDS002) Research Staff 08 September 2020 09:30 – 11:30 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42689
Writing A Data Management Plan for Your Research (RDS002) All Staff & PGR’s 23 September 2020 10:00 – 12:00 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42494
Edinburgh DataVault: supporting users archiving their research data (RDS008) Professional Service Staff 25 September 2020 14:00 – 16:00 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42495
Realising the Benefits of Good Research Data Management (RDS001) Research Staff 29-30 September 2020 09:30 – 11:00 x 2 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42690
Realising the Benefits of Good Research Data Management (RDS001) All Staff & PGR’s 13-14 October 20 10:30 – 1200 x 2 Part 1 – https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42496,

Part 2 – https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42637

Working with Personal and Sensitive Data (RDS003) Research Staff 28 October 2020 09:30 – 11:30 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42791
Realising the Benefits of Good Research Data Management (RDS001) Research Staff 11-12 November 2020 13:30 – 15:00 x 2 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42794
Realising the Benefits of Good Research Data Management (RDS001) PhD students 01-02 December 2020 09:30 – 11:00 x 2 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42795
Working with Personal and Sensitive Data (RDS003) All Staff & PGR’s 07 December 2020 10:30 – 12:30 https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?event=book&scheduleID=42498

The following courses will not run during semester 1, but we plan to relaunch them in 2021. In the meantime if you need any support just get in touch with us via data-support@ed.ac.uk and we’ll be happy to help.

  • Data Cleaning with OpenRefine (RDS004)
  • Handling Data Using SPSS (RDS005)
  • Assessing Disclosure Risk in Quantitative Data (RDS006)
  • Assessing Data Quality in Quantitative Data (RDS007)
  • Data Mindfulness: Making the Most of your Dissertation (RDS009)
  • Introduction to Visualising Data in ArcGIS (RDS011)
  • Introduction to Visualising Data in QGIS (RDS012)

Kerry Miller
Research Data Support Officer
Library and University Collections

‘Protecting sensitive data’: new MANTRA unit now available

The Research Data Support team are pleased to announce a new update to MANTRA, the free and open online research data management training course.

The new ‘Protecting sensitive data’ module has been created from scratch, replacing the previous ‘Data protection, rights and access’ unit to provide an up-to-date guide for researchers working with sensitive and personal data.

MANTRA is designed to give post-graduate students, early career researchers, and information professionals the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with research data.

The ‘Protecting sensitive data’ unit considers the ethical and legal contexts for conducting research with sensitive data, including information and guidance on:

  • What makes data sensitive?
  • What UK and European data protection laws mean for research
  • Research ethics, informed consent and consent documentation
  • Approvals processes and accessing restricted data
  • Safeguarding sensitive data, including data retention limits, access controls and anonymisation
  • Data protection training

MANTRA is designed to be approachable and informative, and incorporates text and video content plus quizzes, interactive exercises and a ‘further reading’ section.

We hope you find the new content interesting and useful, and we welcome comments on the new unit, as well as feedback on the other seven MANTRA modules.

Finally, the RDS team are currently working on a series of further updates to MANTRA which will be rolled out over the coming weeks, and information about these releases will be posted on this blog and the RDS Twitter account.

Bob Sanders

MANTRA, Lead Editor

DataVault user roles let you share access to archived data

The Edinburgh DataVault is a secure long-term retention solution for research data.

Thanks to the hard work of our software developers in the Digital Library and EDINA, the Edinburgh DataVault now facilitates five different user roles. This means busy PIs can delegate the work of depositing and retrieving data, to members of their team or other collaborators within the University. It also allows PIs to nominate support staff to deposit and retrieve data on their behalf, or grant access to new members of their team.

Diagram representing a PI and two postdocs using the roles of Owner and Nominated Data Manager to share access to data in the DataVault

There are five user roles:

  • Data Owner
    Usually the Principal Investigator. Can add/remove other users to their vault(s).
  • Nominated Data Manager (of a given vault)
    Can view and edit metadata fields, deposit data and retrieve any deposit in the vault. May add/remove Depositors to the vault.
  • Depositor (of a given vault)
    Can view the vault contents, deposit data and retrieve any deposit in the vault.
  • School Support Officer
    Acting on behalf of the Head of School, may view all vaults and associated deposits belonging to the School.
  • School Data Manager
    Assigned only with the express permission of the Head of School, may view, deposit into and retrieve data from any vault belonging to the School.

Full details of the permissions associated with each role:
Roles and permissions

Support staff who need to view reporting data for their School, or admin access to their School’s vaults, should attend our training – Edinburgh DataVault: supporting users archiving their research data.

Further information on why and how to use the DataVault is available on the Research Data Service website:
DataVault long-term retention

If you have any questions about using DataVault please don’t hesitate to contact the Research Data Support team at data-support@ed.ac.uk.

Pauline Ward, Research Data Support Assistant
Library and University Collections
@PaulineData

Research Data Training – Semester 1

*UPDATE* – We have just added two new and exciting courses to our training schedule:

  • Assessing Disclosure Risk in Quantitative Data (RDS006)
  • Assessing Data Quality in Quantitative Data (RDS007)

To find out more about these courses just visit our training page.

Each semester the Research Data Support team puts together a training programme for researchers and research support staff in all schools, and at all points in their career. Our programme this year introduces a number of new courses, including one designed especially for Undergraduates planning their final year dissertation. We have also reviewed and refreshed all of our existing courses to ensure that they are not only up-to-date but also more engaging and interactive.

Full Course list:

  • Realising the Benefits of Good Research Data Management (RDS001)
  • Writing a Data Management Plan for your Research (RDS002)
  • Working with Personal and Sensitive Data (RDS003)
  • Data Cleaning with OpenRefine (RDS004)
  • Handling Data Using SPSS (RDS005)
  • Assessing Disclosure Risk in Quantitative Data (RDS006)
  • Assessing Data Quality in Quantitative Data (RDS007)
  • Data Mindfulness: Making the Most of your Dissertation (RDS009)
  • Introduction to Visualising Data in ArcGIS (RDS011)
  • Introduction to Visualising Data in QGIS (RDS012)

Full details of all these courses, with direct booking links, can be found on our training webpage https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/research-support/research-data-service/training

Courses can also be found and booked via the MyEd Events page.

We are always happy to deliver tailored versions of these courses suitable for a specific school, institute or discipline. Just contact us at data-support@ed.ac.uk to let us know what you need!

Kerry Miller
Research Data Support Officer
Library and University Collections