Dr. Forough Ghahramani Joins the NERCOMP Annual Conference to Discuss Research Data Management for Open Science

The Research Data Management for Open Science session will explore the fundamental aspects, benefits, and challenges of data management and the requirements for a unified data and collaboration platform. Features of the IEEE Dataport^TM platform which support Data Management by researchers will be explored and demonstrated. “Open access is critical for advancing science, scholarship, and society,” says Dr. Ghahramani. “The challenge of ensuring the long-term preservation and access to the outputs of scientific research, especially data sets produced by publicly funded research projects, has become a prominent topic in this country. Data management and sharing policies are also increasingly becoming a requirement to qualify for research funding. For research data management to become a higher priority for researchers, they must see a clear benefit from devoting time, attention, and funds to these purposes.”

“In 2023, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will implement an updated data management and sharing policy,” explains Dr. Ghahramani. “Like similar policies implemented by other research funding organizations, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), researchers will be required to submit a data management plan as part of any grant proposal. There has been extensive research into why researchers do and do not share their data openly, and the major themes that arise are lack of time and skills necessary to organize the data into a form suitable for sharing.”

Attendees of this session will explore trends and patterns in data management, the barriers that currently exist, and the specific skills and training that are currently in demand for data management professionals. “Developing a skilled workforce with diverse ideas, styles, and identities will require attracting more individuals to the data management profession, specifically from under-represented groups in the community,” says Dr. Ghahramani. “We must strive to enable equal access to resources and opportunities and believe in the individual ability of all to learn and grow. Melissa and I look forward to connecting with conference attendees and discussing how we can work together to accelerate institutional research efforts throughout the region.”

To learn more about the event, visit https://events.educause.edu/nercomp-annual-conference/2023.