Provost calls for Community Action on Research Data Management

The Provost has announced the creation of a new research Data Management Committee (DMC) which is charged with “the mission of informing and catalyzing the university community in data management, sharing, and preservation”.   The Committee members comprise experts from a range of institutional research data stakeholder units including the Office of Research, Computing Services & Systems Development (CSSD), University Library System, Health Sciences Library System, School of Information Sciences, Department of Biomedical Informatics, and faculty representatives from the Department of Computer Science, School of Law and the University Center for Social & Urban Research. One of the first tasks for the DMC will be to gather faculty and staff views on their research data support requirements to inform a Strategic Options Report. This Report will explore the challenges of developing research data infrastructure (e.g. platforms for data storage and archiving, Data Management Plan guidance and researcher training in good data documentation practices), and will provide recommendations to inform future planning. The Report will also describe potential strategies to achieve cultural change within the institution, recognizing US government agendas toward open data and research funder mandates from NIH and NSF, to share data as a public good.

You can contribute to the work of the DMC in two key ways:

1. By completing a Survey about your research data requirements and practices http://pi.tt/datasurvey
2. By participating in a Data Management Committee Open Forum

The Co-Chairs of the Data Management Committee welcome your engagement:

Dr Liz Lyon, Visiting Professor, School of Information Sciences said “our objective is to help the University of Pittsburgh to provide a coordinated and robust data infrastructure for its faculty, which meets their requirements and which recognizes the value of their research data, models and code as first-class research outputs”.

Dr Mike Becich, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Informatics in the Health Sciences, Chair and Distinguished University Professor of the Department of Biomedical Informatics said “the next chapter of the evolution of science is dependent on the sharing of data generated by federally funded research.  The NIH and NSF already require data sharing plans for funded research, but has not systematized this practice.  Pitt has an opportunity to lead in developing a model which can scale nationally”.

For more information about the Data Management Committee, the Provost’s Charge and the Data Management Committee Open Forums: rdmc.pitt.edu