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ADVANCED RESEARCH COMPUTING (ARC) Dr James A J Wilson Research Data Stewardship at UCL
A brief history of Research Data Stewardship • Not a new thing – data repositories, data management planning, etc. • But 2016 was a notable year Publication of the FAIR data principles Publication of ‘Realising the European Open Science Cloud’ by an EU high-level expert group “Core data experts are neither computer savvy research scientists … nor are they hard-core data or computer scientists or software engineers. They should be technical data experts. … The number of people with these skills needed … is, we estimate, likely exceeding half a million within a decade.” Defines data stewardship as “The entire process that deals responsibly with one’s own and other people’s data throughout and after the scientific discovery process”
Meanwhile, back in UCL • The Research IT Services team is going about its business • The data team are busy - Managing their multi-petabyte Research Data Storage Service - Implementing the EPSRC call for institutions to offer a data repository • Part of the Information Services Division, and Professional Services
Becoming ARC • A major restructuring resulted in a new department in 2022: the Centre for Advanced Research Computing • Formed around a principle of research technology professional job families: - Research Software Engineers - Research Infrastructure Developers - Research Data Stewards - Research Data Scientists - PRISMs (Professional Research Investment & Strategy Managers) • Hybrid department • More focus on direct research involvement
ARC Services • Research Data Storage Service • Data Safe Haven / Trusted Research Environment • HPC (Myriad & Kathleen) • Research Data Repository • Electronic Research Notebook • Globus • Harbour (3rd party data) • & Others! A research institute Discovering and promoting new applied ways of using data, computers and software to carry out science and scholarship A professional services mindset Listening, open, customer-centred teams with service and support standards Best modern technology practices Delivering skills, software and hardware that enable computer intensive research Foster relationships Builds close relationships with research community and solutions specialised to academic needs ARC Principles
Building a team of research data stewards • Infrastructure now a team of its own • Research Data Services team grown from 4 to 18 in three years • Expansion funded primarily by research income • Research Technology Professions written into bids, overheads included • Built on example of our well-established Research Software Engineers • Need senior allies to get past the bureaucracy • Generic Job Descriptions (grades 6-10); tailored job advertisements • B r o a d range of essential and desirable skills and experience • Disciplinary & generic coverage
UCL’s Research Data Stewards • Provide help preparing, documenting, managing, and sharing data • Offer practical advice and support making research Data FAIRer FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable • Collaborate with research teams • Help manage and improve ARC’s research data services • Involved in teaching and training • Researchers in their own right
Who are the Research Data Stewards? • Research Data Stewards drawn from research backgrounds, in addition to library and professional services 1 remaining systems developer / user support 1 (technical) data librarian 1 university administrator 1 data scientist fresh from masters; 1 straight from a PhD on information security 1 technician (sort of) involved primarily in medical imaging 2 involved in clinical trials / healthcare / associated services 1 research data manager (via academic publishing) 7 departmental-based research staff, all with a bit of data management background 1 Formerly project-based data governance officer & me • Model of mixed responsibilities – supporting both research and services
Building a Community of Practice • ARC cannot cover every aspect of data stewardship • So we need to unite the community! • There are research data stewards in research centres, and working in research teams, often isolated • But… how do you know that you are a Research Data Steward? • Teams channel & events Widyan Alamoudi, UCL
