reSEArch-EU - European University of the Seas

Open data is still an aspect of open science that is more or less integrated in researchers work,
depending on the discipline and the culture of the group of researchers.

In order to help researchers at a central level, in our multi-disciplinary institution, we need to
know what the different practices are within the collaborative teams. As a progression from
an internal report that was carried out in 2021, which concluded that research units were very
heterogeneous concerning researchers’ implication in open data and a survey is necessary in
order to understand practices. Understanding practices is necessary in order to ascertain:

• where data is stored
• where help is needed (resources used by researchers)
• sharing data management techniques (bearing in mind this is constantly evolving)

Where data is stored is important for main reasons. So that it can be valued by the institution
via for example evaluation reports (such is the case for French institutions HCERES) and
increasing visibility for the institution, but also to help create a better inter-disciplinary
research dynamic.

Where help is need. Some researchers may not be aware of resources available to them. At
the University of Brest, there are two staff members who form a collaborative duo for open
science: one staff member who is a documentarist and works at the university’s library, and
the other is a project engineer working in the research department. This duo has a great
advantage because the project engineer has a good understanding of the funding that is
available to researchers and therefore can help with obtaining necessary funding. The
documentarist, on the other hand has a good knowledge of the different depositories and
archiving techniques. Also, some researchers many not be aware of the legal aspects
surrounding the data they use.

Sharing data management techniques. As some disciplines are at the forefront of open data,
some techniques can be translated to different disciplines.

The survey was launched on the 14th November and will be open for one month.

Information about the survey and the link to a lime survey was added to the Research
departments newsletter and any research units that do not answer will be contacted directly. The goal is to obtain information for each and every unit.

The survey was written by Lisa Malguy an ORDO and librarian, Pauline Chauvet, an engineer
recruited by the IUEM (European University Institute for Marine Sciences) which is part of the
University of Brest, to create a Data Management Plan for the IUEM structure, Gemma Davies,
an ORDO a project engineer is also implicated in the collection of data for the survey.