In 2021, the University of Basel launched the Data Stewardship Programme to complement the Research Data Management Network. The aim of the programme is to establish decentralised first points of contact in the individual faculties and departments for all questions relating to research data management. The programme is funded by the Rectorate and coordinated by the Open Science Team of the University Library.

Since its inception, the Data Stewardship Programme has raised awareness of research data management at the University of Basel. Data stewards have been appointed in almost all faculties of the university and have benefited from the training courses offered by the programme. Since 2023, the programme is additionally funded by swissuniversities as part of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Open Research Data and can thus be expanded and consolidated.

By the end of 2024, the Data Stewardship Programme aims to increase the visibility of the Research Data Management Network in the departments across the University, to establish subject-specific principles and best practices in all research areas, to make research data management an integral part of doctoral training, and to ensure the long-term central coordination of the programme. For more details, see the Action Plan on Data Stewardship of the University of Basel.

At the University of Basel, data stewards are people who offer subject-specific support for research data management. They are the first point of contact for researchers in their respective subject area. In addition to providing direct advice and support, they also serve as a link to other bodies that offer general support in the area of RDM. They ensure that subject-specific needs are known throughout the Research Data Management Network at the University of Basel and that transferable solutions can be developed.

Since 2021, about 25 data stewards have been recruited in the various faculties to help researchers with any questions related to research data management. Are you a researcher at the University of Basel and want to find your data steward? Then check out our list with all data stewards!

Are you interested in becoming a data steward yourself? Then send us an email!

The Research Data Management Network is mandated to organise training for the data stewards of the University of Basel. The training started in the fall semester of 2021 and offers data stewards courses on the fundamentals of research data management, data protection, and information security. The courses are delivered by internal and external speakers. In addition, the data stewards get to know the respective experts and contact persons within the network. Depending on the needs of the faculties and departments, subject-specific in-depth courses can also be organised. The training is designed in such a way that it is possible to join at any time. To date, more than 18 courses have been held on topics such as research data management, FAIR principles, research ethics, archival law and funding. In addition, over 14 Coffee Lectures were given on infrastructures and tools for research data management.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions about our training for the data stewards of the University of Basel: researchdata@clutterunibas.ch.

Here you can find the next training courses and events of the Data Stewardship Programme. The training is updated on an ongoing basis. We offer some of the courses several times a semester. If there are alternative dates, they will be labeled A, B, etc. It is not always possible to make multiple offers within a semester, but we expect to repeat some of the courses in future semesters.

The Coffee Lectures took place as webinars in the spring and fall semesters of 2022. They lasted 15 minutes and gave an insight into various infrastructures and tools for research data management.
The video recordings of the past Coffee Lectures can be found under Video tutorials.