What’s in it for me?
Hasselt University RDM policy plan
Funder requirements
Publishers’ policies
What’s in it for me?
Three main reasons motivate research data management:
- Increased efficiency: a comprehensive data management plan (DMP), unambiguous data documentation and proper data management practices benefit researchers by streamlining workflows, reducing data loss and corruption and facilitating future research.
- Ethical compliancy: RDM is essential to uphold scientific integrity (e.g. when handling personal or sensitive data), and is an important element when research findings need to be reproduced, validated, or valorised. Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) data remove social and economic barriers and benefit the whole of society.
- Funder policies: research institutes and funders require researchers to adhere to their respective RDM policies. Mandatory data management planning and Open Data have become important elements, and researchers need to be aware of existing rules and guidelines.
Hasselt University RDM policy plan
The Hasselt University RDM Policy Plan (pdf) (Dutch only) sets a framework for all researchers to safeguard the quality, availability, and accessibility of their research data and it provides a basis for evaluating compliance with laws and regulations (e.g. GDPR) and codes of conduct. The Hasselt University RDM Policy Plan defines the responsibilities of all researchers affiliated with Hasselt University through five basic principles:
- All researchers must store, manage and provide access to their research data as stipulated in the RDM Policy Plan and adhere to its guidelines;
- Personal and sensitive data can only be collected and used when essential for specific research;
- All research projects require a data management plan (DMP);
- Researchers adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and Identity and Access Management (IAM);
- The RDM Policy Plan complements existing legislation, regulations, research ethics, and integrity guidelines.
Hasselt University has the responsibility to support its researchers, ranging from providing tools and secure data storage infrastructure to providing support and training on data management planning and expert advice on personal data processing.
Researchers have a responsibility to preserve their data sustainably and securely and to enable reuse by following the FAIR principles and open data guidelines (where possible). The researchers themselves are responsible for ensuring that their data management is in line with this RDM policy.
Funder requirements
External research funders at home and abroad expect that researchers manage their publicly funded research projects well. At the basis of many funders’ data policies lies the requirement to write and regularly update a Data Management Plan, as well as the recommendation or even obligation to make the research data openly available (where possible).
The main requirements per funding agency are summarized below. Naturally, you can always contact your dedicated data steward for more information.
FWO | EU-funded research | BOF | IOF | BELSPO
Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)
- Applying for funding
You answer 5 basic questions in the ‘Data Management Plan’ section of the application form. - Writing a Data Management Plan
A first version of the DMP must be submitted to the host institution (rdm@uhasselt.be) no later than 6 months after the official start date of the project or fellowship. A final, up-to-date version of the DMP must be submitted together with the final report on the completed research to be submitted to the FWO via its e-portal. - Sharing your data
Research data should be preserved for at least five years after the end of the research project. Researchers are encouraged (but not obliged) to provide open access to the data supporting their research. - More information
EU-funded research (e.g. Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe Frameworks)
- Applying for funding
Proposals need to address good research data management in the application, under the ‘Impact’ section. - Writing a Data Management Plan
A first version of the DMP must be submitted as a deliverable no later than 6 months after the start of the project. The DMP needs to be updated, as the project’s implementation progresses, and when significant changes arise. As a minimum, the DMP should be updated for the project's periodic evaluation. If no other periodic reviews are foreseen within the grant agreement, an update needs to be made in time for the final review at the latest. - Sharing your data
With the launch of the Open Research Data Pilot in 2017, the European Open Science policy advocates access to and re-use of research data generated through public funds. Since 2018, all EU-funded research requires their grantees to provide open access to the data underlying their publications. Opting-out remains possible if there are good (e.g. legal or ethical) reasons to keep some or even all research data generated in a project closed (“as open as possible, as closed as necessary”). - More information on Horizon 2020, and on Horizon Europe
- Applying for funding
You answer 5 basic questions in the ‘Data Management Plan’ section of the application form. - Writing a Data Management Plan
A first version of the DMP must be submitted (rdm@uhasselt.be) no later than 6 months after the official start date of the project or fellowship. A final, up-to-date version of the DMP must be submitted together with the final report on the completed. - Sharing your data
Researchers are encouraged (but not obliged) to provide open access to the data supporting their research. - More information
Industrial Research Fund (IOF)
- Applying for funding
You answer 5 basic questions in the ‘Data Management Plan’ section of the application form. - Writing a Data Management Plan
A first version of the DMP must be submitted (rdm@uhasselt.be) no later than 6 months after the official start date of the project or fellowship. A final, up-to-date version of the DMP must be submitted together with the final report on the completed. - Sharing your data
Researchers are encouraged (but not obliged) to provide open access to the data supporting their research.
- Applying for funding
You must submit a provisional DMP as part of the grant application. - Writing a Data Management Plan
BELSPO expects a completed DMP no later than 6 months after the start date of the project, to be submitted to the BELSPO programme administrator. At the end of the project, the final version of the DMP has to be added to the final report of the project, to be submitted to the BELSPO programme administrator again. - Sharing your data
BELSPO mandates researchers to deposit their data in certified and trusted online repositories and/or data centres with the highest standards for preservation, curation, deposit and reuse. That way, third parties will be able to access, mine, exploit, reproduce and disseminate them, free of charge for any user, at the latest at the same time as the publication they underpin. Obviously, some data need to be protected (e.g. for IP, privacy, or security reasons), in line with the ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’ principle. - More information
Publishers’ policies
Just like funding agencies, publishers and journals are increasingly expecting researchers to make data associated with scholarly publications openly available to peers. More information can be found on the websites of the respective publishers, e.g.: