The new Research Data Office will better support researchers in managing their research data according to legal requirements and security standards. This is achieved through technical solutions for storage, for example, as well as through extended online support and a support function staffed by knowledgeable employees.
To ensure that the support really meets the needs of researchers, the unit has assigned a data steward to each faculty. They will work closely with researchers, providing guidance and support while also raising the needs that emerge with the Research Data Office. The goal is a support system that constantly improves support for research – so that researchers can spend more time on what matters most: research itself.
Lund University School of Economy and Management - LUSEM
Emelie Estling is new Data steward at LUSEM
Why should researchers care about how they manage their research data?
There are laws and guidelines that researchers must follow and It’s essential to adhere to good research practices. The research data collected as part of a researcher’s duties belongs to the university, as a government authority, not the individual researcher.
It is also crucial from a security perspective to ensure that collected data does not end up in the wrong hands or is mismanaged. Trust is another key factor—researchers build trust with society and study participants, who need to feel confident that the information they share will be handled securely and correctly.
Many research funders also have requirements for data management, such as accessibility and data management plans.
Who would you most like to have dinner with if you could choose anyone (living or dead) and what would you talk about?
Perhaps Paul Auster. He has written many excellent books and seemed like a sympathetic person. We could discuss the state of the world, the influence of the United States on global democracy, his books, and life in general.
Read more: Emelie Estling, data steward at LUSEM.
Faculty of Law
Meet Elin Thunell and Jon Eriksen, the Faculty of Law’s data stewards
Why should researchers care about how they manage their research data?
“Demands from research funders for documentation of research data are increasing, and it can be challenging as a researcher to plan and navigate management of those demands, especially if you are for the first time dealing with sensitive material that requires high security.”
Who would you most like to have dinner with if you could choose anyone (living or dead) and what would you talk about?Elin: “My answer to that question is a quiet dinner with my husband, where we discuss everything but the daily grind.”
Jon: “My younger self, I think it might have been handy to be able to offer some guidance.”
Read more: Meet Elin Thunell and Jon Eriksen, the Faculty of Law’s data stewards.
Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts
Meet Madeleine Bergquist, the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts
Why should researchers care about how they manage their research data?
"For several reasons. Partly to facilitate their own research by keeping their material in order. But also to strengthen the research field in which they operate through the sharing of data. That said, researchers are not always able to share data, for several reasons and perhaps especially in the artistic field, but you can always learn to justify why it is not possible and ensure that data is handled securely and legally."
Read more: Meet Madeleine is the faculty's new Data Steward | Faculty of Arts Internal in Swedish).
Faculty of Engineering (LTH)
Meet Robin Gullstrand, LTH's data steward
Why is how you manage your research data so important?
“Of course there are many reasons why this is important. On the one hand, we have to fulfil legal requirements and consider ethical aspects of how research data should be handled. It is also important to manage research data properly to minimise the risk of it being lost, which has happened in the past.”
Who would you most like to have dinner with if you could choose anyone (living or dead) and what would you talk about?
“I would love to have dinner with my mum, who passed away about 20 years ago. She was an exciting person with a great interest in civic affairs. She would have followed the challenges of our time with great interest, and I would have loved to discuss them with her.”
Read more: Meet Robin Gullstrand, LTH's data steward (log-in)
The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology
Meet Annakim Eltén new data steward for the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology
Why is the way you manage your research data so important?
If research is to help us understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition, it must be transparent and possible to use in a broad context.
Who would you like to have dinner with if you could choose anyone (living or dead) and what would you discuss?
It would be interesting to talk about generative AI with Ada Lovelace.
Read more: Meet Annakim Eltén, the new data steward for the HT Faculties
Faculty of Medicine
Meet Maria Johnsson the Faculty of Medicine's data steward.
Why should researchers care about how they manage their research data?
"Today, there are higher demands on how data is handled from collection to archiving and how it is made available. The requirements come both from research funders and partners, but also from laws and regulations that must be followed”.
"We also live in a troubled world that places higher demands on IT security. Gone are the days when you could safely save data on your own hard drive or on USB”.
"If you as a researcher handle your data with greater awareness, you get a better overview of your data and there will be greater transparency when you share data with others”.
Who would you like to have dinner with if you could choose freely and what would you discuss?
"I would like to have dinner with this year's Nobel Laureates in Medicine, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, both active in the United States, who receive this year's prize for the discovery of microRNAs and their work in gene regulation. Of course, we would be talking about data management! It would be interesting to hear about their experiences and discuss the future with them”.
Read more: New research data unit with data stewards at each faculty | Intramed
Faculty of Science
Meet Thomas Tengelin Nyström and Kurt Mattsson, the Faculty of Science’s data stewards
Why should researchers care about how they manage their research data?
Thomas and Kurt: Organising your data in a logical file structure and documenting this as well as the metadata of the files is a fundamental prerequisite for being able to go back to your data and understand it in five years' time. It is also important to save the files in a location with backup to minimise the risk of losing data. Managing your data well helps in all respects when it comes to meeting both funders' requirements and legal requirements.
Who would you most like to have dinner with if you could choose anyone (living or dead) and what would you talk about?Thomas: “Stanley G. Weinbaum. It would have been fun to hear his reasoning around extraterrestrial intelligence when writing his science fiction stories.”
Kurt: “It would be great to meet Andrew Huberman and ask him some questions about the impact of natural and artificial light on circadian rhythms.”
Read more: Thomas and Kurt on the Faculty of Science website.
Faculty of Social Sciences
Meet Ann-Sofie Zettergren, the Faculty of Social Sciences' data steward
Why is the way you manage your research data so important?
In order to go back and reuse or check the data you have already collected, you need to have structured the data in a clear way and stored it to enable easy accessibility. If you are going to share data with others or make it openly accessible, you also need the data to have been managed in a way that makes this possible. Perhaps you need a DOI for your data set for an article publication or want to share data via a repository in your subject. I am there to help with all these aspects.
Who would you like to have dinner with if you could choose anyone (living or dead) and what would you discuss?
If I could have dinner with Alan Rickman, I would talk about anything and everything.
Read more: Meet Ann-Sofie Zettergren, data steward at the Faculty of Social Sciences