Research Data Management (RDM)
… is important for everyone
In order to generate and manage high-quality research data and to be able to reproduce the results obtained from the data, a variety of organizational measures are in place as part of research data management.
We, in the Office of the Dean for Research at the Faculty of Medicine, see ourselves as a single point of contact for research data management (RDM) to support researchers in implementing these measures. In this function, we are happy to assist you with your inquiries, so you do not have to look for the right person to address them to. We will then process the inquiries ourselves or forward them to the right contact person.
RDM Services of the Faculty of Medicine
The Office of the Dean for Research is happy to support you with the following offerings and services.
Consultation services on the subject of RDM
RDM Tools
Owncloud enables the shared use of data that is stored locally at the Centre for Digitization and Information Technology (ZDI).
The freiburg research data tool (fredato) is a tool developed by the Institute of Medical Biometry and Statistics (IMBI) for collaborative data exchange for joint projects. It offers you a user-friendly web interface to add metadata to your publications.
Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) is a data capture tool for the digital collection of study data and the implementation of online questionnaires. REDCap is also suitable for research data management in smaller projects.
Training courses on handling research data
In addition to the workshop on using REDCap, we will be offering further training courses on various aspects of research data management in the future. The aim of these courses is to help you manage data in a structured, secure, and efficient manner.
The program is being continuously expanded—further topics and dates will follow shortly. Your suggestions and requests are very welcome!
Workshop on using REDCap
In collaboration with the Institute for Medical Biometry and Statistics (IMBI) and the Center for Clinical Studies (ZKS), we are offering an introduction to REDCap. REDCap is a data collection tool for surveys, clinical trial management (outside the AMG), research projects, and data management. The course consists of a self-study module with videos and an online seminar for group work on projects or exercises.
Target group: All employees who plan to use REDCap in the near future. The course will be held in German.
When: Self-study module: starting immediately | Online seminar: Twice a year (dates to follow)
Where: online
Registration: via medicAL (link here). You can then register for the online seminar in the medicAL course ). Please understand that for organizational reasons, we cannot accept spontaneous registrations. If you have problems logging in to medicAL, please contact fair.researchdata@uniklinik-freiburg.de .
RDM Services of the University of Freiburg
Storing Data
Good scientific practice recommends an archiving period for data of at least ten years; for certain clinical studies, periods of up to 30 years apply. On request, we will be happy to provide you with an overview of the storage systems of the Faculty of Medicine and the University of Freiburg.
Publishing Data
Data can be published in various ways: either as an appendix to a scientific paper, in a data journal specializing in the publication of data or in a data repository. The advantage of data repositories is that the data can be published separately from a manuscript and can therefore also be cited individually.
FreiDok plus is the institutional repository of the University of Freiburg. It serves as a publication platform, university bibliography and research documentation system. The FreiData platform has recently become available as the university’s own data repository for larger data sets.
FAIR Principles
The general aim of research data management is to ensure that the data meet the so-called “FAIR principles”.
FAIR data have unique identifiers (findable), are accessible via standardized interfaces (accessible), compatible with other data formats (interoperable) and can be used under defined licensing conditions (reusable).
FAIR research data facilitates good scientific collaborations and promotes interdisciplinary cooperation. Further information can be found here:
Important: FAIR does not mean that the data must be published. In order to apply the FAIR principles to research data, it is necessary to create metadata, descriptive information about the data, to ensure that these principles can be implemented in the first place.
DFG and EU Guidelines on Handling Research Data
By setting requirements and providing support, funding organizations contribute to the sustainable use of research data and improve the overall quality of research.
German Research Foundation (DFG): The DFG’s portal page on research data provides an overview of how to handle research data (last update 03/2022). Specifically, there is a checklist with questions that applicants should consider. Though not explicitly mentioned in the checklist or the accompanying documents, your answers will generate a data management plan.
Horizon Europe: Proposals to the EU Framework Program “Horizon Europe” are subjected to relatively high standards. Below you will find guides from OpenAire, a resource for Open Science in the EU, which provides a good overview of RDM in Horizon Europe proposals. On the German portal of “Horizon Europe” of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), the requirements can be found under cross-cutting topics on Open Science/Open Data.
Research Data Commission
At the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Freiburg, numerous research data from various sources are collected, processed, and archived. For successful and sustainable research, it is essential to make these diverse datasets accessible and usable in the long term, while also ensuring the protection of sensitive clinical data. To meet these complex requirements and to promote the development of a digital research culture, the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Medicine has established the Research Data Commission.