Highlights from the 2024-25 Digital Research programme at the University of Edinburgh

This is a guest blog from Dr Eleni Kotoula, Lead Digital Research Facilitator, Digital Research Services

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have access to a wide range of digital research services, resources, tools, and support throughout the research lifecycle. Research Facilitators are dedicated to helping the university community make the most of Digital Research Services. To support this goal, they have developed a programme of activities for researchers, research students, and professional staff supporting research, with contributions from the Library, Research Services, EPCC (formerly Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre), and members of the wider University community. 

Photograph of mountains on the horizon with the following text: Explore What's on the Horizon - Stay ahead in your research journey with the latest events, workshops and opportunities available across the University of Edinburgh. Whether you're looking to enhance your skills, connect with fellow researchers, or explore new tools, there's something for everyone. There is also a link for: digitalresearchservices.ed.ac.uk/news-and-updates

Boost Your Digital Research Skills 

In addition to training offered by service providers, schools, and colleges, Digital Research Services have scheduled ten 30-minute webinars from September until the end of the calendar year. 

An “Introduction to Digital Research Services” webinar will be offered on various dates throughout Semester 1, tailored for newcomers, early career researchers (ECRs), and anyone who needs help navigating the Digital Research Services. 

The “Spotlight on Research Planning” webinar series will address key considerations when planning a research project, including topics such as copyright, research websites, research computing, and data management. These webinars will provide valuable information to help researchers be better prepared for planning and designing their next research project. 

Expand Your Network 

Image of a tree with a figure standing underneath it in the shade, accompanied by the following text: Celebrate with us! Join us to honour the achievements of our 2024 Digital Research Ambassadors. Registration & info: edin.ac/3vAMqsz 2 October 2024, 3:00-5:00pm, Nucleus - Yew Lecture Theatre (KB)

The Digital Research Services programme also offers networking opportunities during all hybrid and in-person events. Networking receptions will take place on: 

  • 24th October during the HPC communities gathering event. Find out more and register here 
  • 29th January at the Digital Research Conference. More details available here. 

All in-person attendees of lunchtime seminars and hands-on training sessions are invited to join us for a networking lunch. 

 Hands-on Computing Training 

With a growing demand from the University of Edinburgh community to enhance research computing skills, Digital Research Services have scheduled three full days of hands-on HPC training: 

  • “Introduction to Archer2” on 30th October and 6th November. Book your place here 
  • “How to Work on Eddie” on 14th November. Find out more and register here 

To stay updated on upcoming events, training and opportunities relevant to data and computational research subscribe to the digital research mailing list. For further queries, contact digitalreseacrhservices@ed.ac.uk.

Keep connected with the team at https://linktr.ee/digitalresearchservices  

Kyushu University Library and iSchool Visit

Recently, a delegation of 5 librarians visited Library Research Support in Argyle House on 30 July. Led by Emi Ishita, a Professor in the iSchool and working with the Library on their Data-Driven Innovation Initiative, staff from Kyushu and Chiba Universities and the University of the Ryukyus came for a day of discussion, and a pleasant lunch at the nearby Edinburgh College of Art café.

Professor Ishita enjoys an Irn-Bru.

Prof Ishita enjoys an Irn-Bru – Photo credit: Robin Rice

Questions the delegation had were shared in advance, and assigned to members of the team to respond to, in a round table format. These covered research data services and personnel (skills), service operation and collaboration, service evaluation, user reactions, and data publication and licence support in data repositories as well as repository certification. Other questions were around Open Access promotion and educational activities, as well as REF 2029 and Transformative Agreements.

The librarians from Japan were well informed about our research data management and open access services. Something that they were particularly keen to discuss was the way we conduct outreach with researchers, such as going to academic departments and training postgraduate students on data management planning. They are grappling with the perception of libraries in Japan as more of a physical space where researchers choose to come study; less as a proactive service that helps researchers learn and develop new academic skills, particularly related to Research Data Management (RDM).The delegation had also visited University of Vienna and Leeds University on the same trip. Future collaboration around training of librarians in the Kyushu Department of Library Science (iSchool) is being planned with Prof Ishita.

Robin Rice
Data Librarian and Head of Research Data Support
Library and University Collections

 

Coming full circle

The ins, outs and upside downs of Digital Research Services and lessons learned in the process.

I’ve spent the past three months working as a Researcher-in-Residence for Digital Research Services (DRS) at the University of Edinburgh, marking a transition from the completion of my PhD in which I stumbled my way through digital techniques, to the next exciting step in my career pathway as a training fellow for the Centre of Data, Culture and Society. This progression was greatly assisted by the experiences I acquired during my time with DRS, brief though it was. In particular, through reflection, awareness and facilitation of digital services and the research lifecycle in general, I developed a greater understanding of what digital research can offer, but also the roadblocks we’re slowly overcoming to get everyone there.

I came into this role as an emerging scholar in digital humanities, still getting to grips with the possibilities out there and slowly recognising the value the digital world harbours – a value I had previously dismissed or simply wasn’t aware of during my undergraduate studies. It is of course very easy to stand safely on solid ground, and reject the gleaming digital world over on the other side. Yet, over the weeks I’ve spent with DRS, I’ve seen various toolkits and techniques come past that could have been so useful, if I’d only known or gone looking for them. More than once, I’ve had a ‘wait, you can do that?’ moment when investigating different options available to the academic community. We are very fortunate to have so many amazing resources available right at our fingertips, thanks to the wide range of services the University provides access to, and I can strongly encourage anyone pondering the choice to go digital to give it a try! After all, there’s nothing to lose, and in the process you might discover that there are more effective ways to share your data with others (i.e. DataShare), safer and more secure ways to store and archive it (e.g. DataStore or DataVault), and faster and more reliable methods to analyse it that won’t destroy your personal device (meet Eddie or Eleanor some time).

This however alludes to the second major realisation I acquired, which is the importance of outreach and engagement to bring researchers over to the digital side. There’s no escaping the fact that researchers won’t go looking for digital assistance if they’re unaware that it’s available in the first place. This has been a major part of my role over the summer, and I’ve come to appreciate just how difficult this is within an organisation that is as multi-layered, complex and vast as the University service support system. Not only do we want to highlight our services to the target users themselves, but we also want to facilitate beneficial bridges between various organisational teams within the University network and DRS. Yet incorporating our events, trainings and seminars into their training centres, Learn pages and SharePoint sites is no small task! Nonetheless, by doing so we can provide the missing links or training that research communities are seeking, and augment pre-existing frameworks to develop a more holistic programme, that addresses needs across the diverse spectrum of applied research. This goal has been gaining traction, so watch this space (or rather, your inboxes) for more information in the coming academic year.

Finally, the third major insight I acquired concerned the current lack of digital equity within the research community. There is a certain reluctance that particular research communities or individuals have towards digital techniques. Yet, why people would avoid using tools that could make their research easier, faster, replicable and more statistically powerful? After all, despite the higher risk, most of us would opt for motorised transport these days rather than a horse and cart. Through cross-disciplinary discussions and peer-to-peer feedback, it became clear this reluctance didn’t stem from dislike or disinterest, but rather a lack of the right skillset and knowledge to approach digital tools. I myself was fortunate to have had enough of a digital background to take the necessary steps for my own PhD project, as some of the foundational stepping-stones had already been laid for me. For those coming from zero however, this is not so much a step as a leap of faith, and nobody likes ending up stuck in the mud. Adequate information and tailored training that speaks to these concerns, introduces researchers to the tools available, and guides them through digital services is a keystone in our aim to create a ‘DRS for everyone’. This will also be reflected in the calendar of DRS events for the upcoming academic year, and if you’re curious or keen to develop your digital skillset, then make sure to check out our webpage, and social media (X and LinkedIn) for updates and information about these events.

And so finishes my three months with DRS. A great opportunity to bring a little more attention to this fantastic service within the University, a chance to help other academics push their research into new territory, and a catalyst for changing the way I will approach research in the future. In the process, I can only hope this position has facilitated a few more bridges between various CAHSS communities within the University and the world of digital research on the other side. Hopefully, with time there will be fewer wet socks and more digital successes in the future.

Sarah Van Eyndhoven
Researcher-in-Residence
Digital Research Services

Community of Edinburgh Research Software Engineers (CERSE): Reflections on the 7th meeting

In this blog Dr Eleni Kotoula, Lead Research Facilitator at the University of Edinburgh, writes about the CERSE and their most recent event.

What is CERSE?

CERSE is a community like no other! It offers an excellent opportunity for Research Software Engineers  (RSE) to get support and recognition for their work. In addition to Research Software Engineers, the CERSE welcomes those interested in the development, use, support or management of research software. Hence, researchers, research support and research data professionals can get involved, expand their network and broaden their understanding of research software engineering. To find out more, have a look at the CERSE Meeting Handbook.

A summary of CERSE’s 7th meeting

Members of the CERSE community across Edinburgh came together earlier this month in the Bayes Centre for the first post-pandemic meeting. After a long break from activities, the organisers from the University of Edinburgh Digital Research Services, EPCC, Sofware Sustainability Institute and the Centre of Data, Culture and Society were keen to resurrect meetings.

Mario Antonioletti opened the meeting, briefly referring to the RSE movement and its previous meetings in Edinburgh. Mike Wallis, Research Services Lead at the University of Edinburgh, gave an overview of the Edinburgh Compute and Data Facility, highlighting data storage, cloud and high performance computing services. Andrew Horne provided an update on EDINA’s ongoing project for the development of Automatic Systematic Reviews. Then, Mario Antonioletti presented EPCC and services such as Archer2 and Cirrus, as well as the important work of the Software Sustainability Institute. After the short talks, Felicity Anderson, PhD candidate in Informatics and Software Sustainability Institute Fellow, led an ice-breaking activity, followed by a networking session. All presentations are available here.

Next steps

The CERSE community has the potential to grow and flourish in a region so rich in research-intensive institutions and academic excellence. We aim to continue by alternating face-to-face and virtual meetings monthly. To do so, we need active participation from those interested in the RSE community. There are different ways to get involved; attending meetings, talking about your relevant work or volunteering to help organize one of the following meetings. For us in Digital Research Facilitation, CERSE offers the opportunity to meet and connect with researchers, RSEs, IT and research support staff. Moreover, we share the same passion for best practices in data-intensive and computational research. That’s why we have been heavily involved in supporting this community in practice and strongly encourage those interested to join us. We are looking forward to meeting you in one of the following CERSE meetings, either in person or online.

How to get involved?

Join the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) mailing list: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ed-rse-community

Follow the CERSE on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cerse7

Join the RSE: https://society-rse.org/join-us/

Dr Eleni Kotoula
Digital Research Facilitation