Data stewardship


I needed somebody who actually has the time to look up what tools are available and who can translate general policies and general infrastructure into daily practical solutions that fit our local needs. There’s a huge gap between policy and implementation for people doing the daily work. We need discipline specific support and we need hands-on help | Bas Teusink, VU University Library, 2018



In recent years, the term data steward has irrevocably entered the realm of data support. Data stewards face the challenge of translating the available infrastructure, tools and data policy into meaningful, tailor-made, discipline-specific advice. In this section we will show how different institutions a.e increasing the involvement of researchers and shaping data stewardship.

Facilitating FAIR data 

In recent years, the policies of research funders and institutions have been very important in setting the agenda and creating awareness of the importance of FAIR data. However, much remains to be done to involve and facilitate the majority of researchers.

Surveys looking at the willingness of researchers to share research data show time and time again that the majority of researchers understand the importance of making their data discoverable. But daily practice does not yet keep pace with the intended ideal (Stuart, 2018; Houtkoop, 2018; Van den Eynden, 2016; CWTS, 2017). Data stewards will prove to be essential links in a process of cultural change where FAIR data is slowly but surely becoming an everyday reality (European Commission, 2018)

The main obstacles to better research data management and sharing are cultural. But change is in our hands | Teperek, 2018


Increasing research engagement

The following strategies are used (inter)nationally to involve researchers and inspire enthusiasm for quality data management and a FAIR delivery of their research data. The strategies increase in degree of interactivity:


Open data awards such as the Dutch data prize (RDNL, n.d.) and the Open Data Champions initiative by SPARC Europe (n.d.) are two examples of showing and rewarding good practices.


On another level, the recognition of open science practices as a recruitment criterion (Schönbrodt, 2019) and the assessment of researchers on their contributions to open science (E.g. Utrecht University, 2018; NPOS, 2017, République française, 2018) is the subject of international debate. The outcome of this discussion will prove essential in the transition to a culture in which FAIR data is the standard.


Examples are:



  • The University of Cambridge established a community of data champions (Savage, 2019). These data champions consist of researchers, PhD students and supporters who want to commit themselves to good data management and to promote the sharing of data. They meet regularly in a Community of Practice on a shared theme.
  • Dutch universities followed the concept of the data champions from the UK, for example:
    • Wageningen University & Research blogs about their data champions (Wageningen University and Research, n.d.b.) and creates a community of data stewards by organising meetings (Wageningen University and Research, 2019). In the definition of Wageningen University & Research, data stewards are researchers, PhD students or supporters with partial tasks in the field of data management.
    • You can read more about the data champions at Delft University of Technology later in this section.



As an example of the elaboration of the embedded data stewards concept you can have a look at :

For a detailed description of these initiatives see the 'In the spotlight' section later in this section.



Change from within

It is a good thing to involve and motivate researchers. But it's also good to realise that - luckily - great initiatives come from researchers themselves too. In 2018 and 2019, for example, open science grassroots communities are popping up everywhere (Nosek, 2019). This is also the case in the Netherlands. After Utrecht University started with an open science community (OSCU, n.d.) the other universities soon followed (Eerland & Brinkman, 2019). Joining such initiatives as a data supporter is essential.





In the spotlight

How do institutions shape data support? Throughout this course you will find interviews with inspiring examples. For this section, RDNL interviewed RDM Support at the University of Utrecht about their service from embedded data managers (Utrecht University, n.d.b.). Click to read the interview. 


Since 2017, Delft University of Technology has been conducting a pilot with the Data Stewardship programme, intended as disciplinary support for TU Delft researchers in their data management. The focus on disciplinary support is motivated by the conviction that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions when it comes to RDM. Delft University of Technology has eight faculties with a wide range of research themes. A data steward has been appointed at each faculty to provide researchers with targeted disciplinary support. Each data steward has a PhD in a relevant research area. Data stewards are the first point of contact for all questions about RDM. The data stewards answer about 80% of the questions themselves. They pass on the rest of the questions to relevant experts (for example questions relating to legal aspects, ethics, etc.).

The data stewards come together weekly to exchange ideas and experiences and they also share information digitally. In order to increase the visibility of the programme and to share open progress, a data stewardship website (Delft University of Technology, n.d.a.) and 'Open working blog' (Delft University of Technology, n.d.b.) have been launched.

Also read:




In the report ''Onderzoeksondersteuning op hogescholen uitgelicht' (In Dutch, SURF, 2019) you can read how Hogeschool Utrecht, Zuyd Hogeschool, Hogeschool Saxion, Christelijke Hogeschool Ede and Hogeschool van Arnhem and Nijmegen support researchers during the different phases of their research. Most universities of applied sciences strive to set up a one-stop shop, where researchers can go during all research phases. Questions that cannot be answered on the spot by this "one-stop-shop" are immediately passed on to the appropriate department. There is also a lot of attention for open science at the university colleges. Supporters try to create awareness about FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). They do this by, among other things, alerting researchers to the importance of data management (RDM) and assisting them. 


How do you involve researchers in research data management? In 2019, the RDA project "Researchers engagement With Data Management - What Works?" (RDA, 2019) collected case studies and good practices from organisations around the world in a 'cookbook'  (Teperek, et al. 2019).


In collaboration with the Digital Curation Centre and University of Edinburgh, RDNL has developed a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) with the name: Delivering Research Data Management Services (University of Edinburgh, DCC, RDNL, 2019).  


In the section 'Privacy support in practice' we show as an inspiring example how the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam shapes privacy support with their concept of privacy champions. In addition, you will find two examples of opportunities for privacy support in the same section.
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