Index

Data management plan

According to forschungsdaten.info, a data management plan (DMP) structures the handling of research data, or its “collection, saving, documentation, maintenance, processing, transfer, publication and storage, as well as the necessary resources, legal framework and responsible persons.” A data management plan (DMP) documents the entire data lifecycle.

Many third-party funding organizations (DFG, FWF, SNSF, Horizon Europe, Volkswagen Foundation) expect information on the handling of research data as part of a funding application for the allocation of funds from certain funding lines.

The DMP describes how to handle research data from the planning stage, to collection, to long-term archiving or, if applicable, planned deletion. At the very least, the data management plan answers the following questions:

  • What is collected?
  • Which bodies must be consulted before collecting data?
  • In what form and where will research data be stored in the various project phases?
  • Who can access the data and when will it be available?
  • Who is responsible for the individual steps?
  • Which legal requirements must be observed? The DMP is a useful and necessary part of the project application.
  • What exactly does this mean for research?

Why this approach is meaningful and sustainable is explained in this video.