The Resarch Data Service is based in the Open Research team in the Library. We support and enable good research data management practice.
Courses are listed in UoRLearn (staff only). F2F/online courses for the forthcoming academic session are scheduled in September. Search for courses by name or using the term data management to retrieve all available courses.
Effective management of research data is fundamental to good research practice, and the preservation and sharing of data that enable research findings to be validated and reproduced is required by the University and by many public funders of research.
This course will introduce principles and practices of research data management that will be applicable to researchers at all stages of their careers working with research data in any discipline, whether in the sciences, social sciences or humanities. The course will cover: public funders’ and the University’s research data policies and requirements; data management plans for funding applications; storage, organisation and documentation of data; data quality control; ethics and legal compliance; ownership and rights in data; and data preservation and sharing.
The objectives of the course are:
Many funders of research require researchers to submit a data management plan (DMP) as part of a grant application, detailing what data will be collected in the proposed project, how data will be managed, and how and where data will be preserved and made available to others when the project concludes. The University Research Ethics Committee and some School committees also require a DMP to be submitted with an application for ethical review.
Whether or not you are required to submit a DMP at some stage in your research process, if you use data in your research, you should have a DMP for your project. A DMP can help you plan and execute research effectively, curate data for maximum utility, identify and manage risks, and ensure resource needs are appropriately costed.
This 2-hour course will provide an overview of the use of DMPs in research. It will offer practical guidance on developing an effective DMP making best use of a DMP in your day-to-day research. Information about data management planning tools and resources to help you will be provided.
The objectives of this course are:
In September 2025 the University introduced data management planning requirements for postgraduate research students whose registration commenced on or after this date. These requirements also entail responsibilities for supervisors and those involved in assessment of student progress through the confirmation of registration and annual review processes.
The purpose of this course is to enable PhD seupervisors and members of School monitoring committees to:
F2F/onlineourses are provided through the Reading Researcher Development Programme (RRDP). Courses for the forthcoming academic session are scheduled in September. The e-learning course is available in Blackboard.
PGRs whose registration commenced on or after September 2025 are required to:
The purpose of this course is to enable you to:
This course should be completed within the first four months of your registration with the University as a PhD student.
If your registration commenced before September 2025, you are not subject to the requirements described here unless your School has directed otherwise. You may still find this course useful, as it highlights good practice in data management and provides information and resources that can help you.
The course is available in the DaRC compliance training for PGRs Blackboard area.
The management of research data and materials involves consideration of the entire lifecycle of data, from creation and collection to storage, processing, analysis, and preservation and sharing in support of research findings. These are essential and substantive activities in the professional and ethical conduct of research. As a research student you will be required to deposit the data supporting your thesis in a data repository at the end of your programme, and this must be planned for from the outset.
This session will discuss the principles and practice of managing research data, including planning, organising, storing, preserving and sharing data. Ethical and legal aspects of data management will be considered. The session will highlight University policy on the preservation and sharing of research data and explain how to comply with its requirements by using a suitable data repository, such as the University's Research Data Archive. It will also consider the value of creating and maintaining a data management plan as a means to support efficient management of your data.
A data management plan (DMP) is a structured document that sets out what data and research materials will be collected in a research project, how they will be managed in the course of the project, and how and where new data collected or created during the research will be preserved and made accessible to others after the project concludes.
Writing a DMP will help you plan and execute your research effectively, and ensure you consider and address important data management issues, including data storage, organisation and documentation; research ethics and consent; intellectual property rights; and preservation and sharing of data supporting your thesis and other research outputs, as required by University policy. A DMP will enable you to identify appropriate solutions to protect your data and the integrity of your research, and to make the most effective use of your research materials in the long term.
This workshop will be of interest to students in the early stages of planning their research. It will offer practical guidance on developing a DMP, and how to make effective use of a DMP in your day-to-day research. The workshop will introduce the University's PGR Data Management Plan template, which you are encouraged to use to write your DMP. Students may wish to start drafting their DMP beforehand so that they can identify any questions they have and areas where they need support.
This modular e-learning course is due to be released in November 2025. it will discuss the topics covered in the two RRDP courses listed above in five modules: 1: Concepts, practices and policies; 2: Managing data during your research project; 3. Preserving and sharing data; 4. The data management plan and its role in your research; 5. Managing and sharing data collected from research participants.
We can provide training and information sessions on request, tailored to the needs and interests of the group.
We can deliver training to mixed audiences in Schools and Departments, School Research Ethics Committees, Research Divisions, research groups and Doctoral Training Partherships.
We can cover general concepts and practices, or offer more focused sessions, for example on the practicalities of using a data repository to preserve and share data, working with and sharing qualitative data, etc. You are welcome to get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Contact us or book an appointment if you have an enquiry or support request.
0118 378 4141
Below you can find a list of training sessions led by the Library's Open Research team.