Digital Research Services: What’s on This Semester

Posted on 17 October 2025 by kmunro

This a guest blog post written by Dr Eleonora Mameli, Research Facilitator in the Digital Research Services team.

To help the research community get the best out of the University’s digital resources, the Research Facilitation Team has organised a diverse programme of events for the 2025–2026 academic year.

From research planning to high-performance computing, there is something for everyone interested in using digital tools in research.

Digital Research Conference

The University of Edinburgh’s Digital Research Conference will take place on 26 February 2026, bringing together researchers, students and staff working with digital and data-intensive methods.

Poster for the Digital Research Conference

This year’s themes include:

AI in Research: Promise, Pitfalls & Practice
Digital Research Infrastructure & the Future of Research Computing
Interdisciplinary Digital Research: From Humanities to Medicine
Ethics, Security & Integrity in Digital Research
Green Digital Research Practices & Sustainability
Embedding Digital Tools in Research, Innovation, Teaching & Learning

Abstract submissions are invited for posters, lightning talks, and oral presentations. The deadline for submissions is October 20th at 5pm.

Find out more on the Digital Research Conference webpage.

Event Series

Spotlight on Research Planning

Join this bite-sized online seminar series, running every Tuesday from 21 October to 25 November at 12 pm. Open to academics, research support staff and postgraduate researchers, the sessions will cover:

Data and computing cost estimation
Research data management
DMPOnline
Project management
Copyright and licensing
Open Science Framework

More information at Spotlight on: Research Planning.

Introduction to Digital Research Services

The introduction to Digital Research Services (DRS) webinar runs on various dates throughout the semester.

It is perfect for newcomers, early career researchers (ECRs), or anyone who wants to get started with the University’s digital research tools and services.

HPC in Focus

Explore High-Performance Computing (HPC) through a mix of online and in-person sessions.
These events showcase the University’s research infrastructure, services and support, featuring expert insights, hands-on training, and networking opportunities.

Upcoming sessions will spotlight ARCHER2, the national supercomputer, and Eddie, the University’s local HPC cluster.

More details at HPC in focus training.

On-demand resource: Induction Video Series

If you would like to explore the University’s digital tools and services at your own pace, our Induction Video Series is a great place to start.

This collection of short videos is designed to help you navigate and make the most of the University’s digital tools, services, and resources.
Each video supports a stage of the research lifecycle, from planning and design to publishing and sharing data.

Watch the induction videos here.

If you would like to stay up to date with upcoming events and resources, keep an eye on the Digital Research Services website!

Outstanding Library Team of the Year – Times Higher Education Awards 2024

Posted on 6 December 2024 by kmunro

This is a guest blog post written by Dominic Tate, Associate Director, Head of Library Research Support

The University of Edinburgh’s Library Research Support Team, of which the Research Data Service is part of, won the ‘Outstanding Library Team of the Year’ category at the Times Higher Education Awards 2024 in Birmingham on 28th November. The team plays a central role in the institution’s transition to open research, with the impact of its work spreading far beyond the Scottish capital. The team created and implemented a UK-first rights retention policy, enabling scholarly work to be published in an open-access format while the authors retain the rights to their work.

Members of the Library Research Support team receiving their award on stage.

Across the UK, 30 other universities have since followed Edinburgh’s lead, and the library team has also presented its work in India, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The team has already saved its university more than £10,000, with hundreds of thousands in savings anticipated in the years to come and millions expected across the broader university sector.

The library team’s new Citizen Science and Participatory Research Service, meanwhile, aims to boost public trust in science while facilitating research that depends on lived experience. By providing library spaces to researchers and community groups, the service enables collaborations on research projects, while the public can also access heritage collections and other library resources. The team endeavours to connect researchers with the communities around them, helping them answer research questions of public concern.

Members of the Library Research Support team standing with the award. The judges applauded the Edinburgh library team’s initiative, commending its efforts to “share its experience with the wider sector” alongside its “emphasis on community access”. Its work, they said, “demonstrated a collaborative approach between the library research support team, academic and professional services staff, students and the local community that is scalable to other parts of the sector”.

You can read an e-book profiling all the winners.

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

Posted on 18 September 2024 by kmunro

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.

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:

2nd October at Nucleus during the Ambassadors celebration event and poster exhibition. Book your place here.

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

Posted on 10 September 2024 by kmunro

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.

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

Edinburgh Research Data Blog