Get started with your research data folders

You order research data folders in Lucat. The process is in five steps and you need to complete the order once you have started it. If you cancel, everything you have filled in will be lost and you will need to start over. 

Make sure you have strong authentication with Freja+ linked to your LU account and that you are connected to the VPN if you are not connected to the shared university network on site. 

Strong authentication 

Here's what you need to know before ordering:  

•  roughly how much storage space you think the project/study will need (you can always increase it afterwards for free)
• which members of the project/study will have access and to which folders
• the cost centre of the department or research team responsible for the research project/study (the service is free of charge but the information is needed to link projects and studies correctly within the organisation)
• what level of security your data handling requires. 

Security classification of research data
Order research data folders in Lucat 

To access your research data folders, you either need to be connected to the university network or, if you are in a different location, connect via VPN. For Windows users logging out from Windows and logging in again is required for the folders to be visible. For MAC and LINUX users, a restart of the computer is sometimes required.

If you have a pc.lu.se computer, you should be able to find your research data folders under the unit ‘R:’ in the explorer around 1-2 hours after completing the order. 

If you have a mac.lu.se computer or another PC, MAC or LINUX computer, you need to manually add your research data folders to your computer. 

How to manually add research data folders

To be able to administer who has access to the research data folders you ordered in Lucat, you need to have one of the following administrative authorisations:  

• Research project manager
• Deputy Research Project Manager Research Project Manager
• Data Manager. 

If you have one of these authorisations you change the reading and writing permissions for different people and folders. Reading permission allows the person to read information in a folder, but not create, modify or delete files. Writing permission includes reading permission and the ability to create, modify and delete information.  

People who are to have authorisations and rights to a research data folder currently need to have a Lucat ID. For external partners, it is possible to obtain a temporary Lucat ID as a ‘guest researcher’, ‘guest teacher’ or ‘Region Skåne’. To get help and information about this, you need to contact your catalogue administrator.

Authorisations must be confirmed once a year  

Once a year, between October 1^st  and November 30^th , you will need to log in to Lucat to confirm that the existing authorisations are up to date and correct. You will then need to either confirm the authorisation for each individual, or remove it. You will recieve an e-mail in advance.

Your storage volume consists of a main folder and permission-controlled subfolders you create in Lucat and the subfolders you create locally on your computer.  

Create or delete permission controlled subfolders  

You need to log in to Lucat to create more or delete permission-controlled subfolders. However, you cannot create a multi-level folder structure in Lucat, but you can always create as many sub folders as you want and need at a deeper level locally on your computer.   

Create subfolders locally on your computer  

Locally on your computer, you can always create subfolders of the permission-controlled folders. However, keep in mind that any folder you create locally on your computer will automatically inherit the permissions settings of the permissions-controlled folder it sits under.  

In order to create subfolders locally, you need to have one of the administrative or writing permissions of the permission controlled folder you want to create the subfolders in.

If you have a lot of existing data that needs to be moved to your new research data folders you will need to carry out the move when you are physically at the University and connected to the University network. If you need to move very large amounts of data, you can contact our support for this.

support [at] researchdata [dot] lu [dot] se (support[at]reserachdata[dot]lu[dot]se)

Ordering more storage volume  

You can always, free of charge, order more storage space for your research data folders afterwards. You do this by logging into Lucat and choosing to make changes to the project or study in question. The space will be increased approximately 30 minutes after you have placed the order.   

If the storage volume is exceeded  

In the event that the space is exceeded, you, the research project leader, will receive an email asking you to either clean up the files or order more space free of charge. You have 90 days to do one of these options.   

If after 90 days you have neither purged nor ordered more space, all write access to the entire storage area and all research data folders will be cancelled. You will retain read access and the ability to export. If you double the amount of storage, writing access is lost immediately until action is taken.

Organising, structuring and documenting your data has many benefits. Remember to create a data management plan. You can also use our template for READ ME files and fill it in. This will make it easier to upload data for publication in the repository as well as to finalise and archive your research data files.    

Create a data management plan 

Document datasets in a README file