New research policies aim for more transparent and secure handling of research data and software
The VU Executive Board has approved the Research Data and Software Management Policy in December 2024. This updated policy replaces the Research Data Management Policy from 2020.
The most impactful change in this policy is that all principles described in the policy not only apply to research data, but also to research software. This means, among other things, that all research data and software that lead to a published result, must be archived and published in a trusted repository. With the updated policy, VU Amsterdam aims to increase the transparency of research carried out at VU Amsterdam and the accessibility of research output.
In addition to the Research Data and Software Management Policy, the Executive Board has approved the Policy Classification of Research Data. This is a new policy and addresses classification of research data in terms of availability, integrity, confidentiality, and how the classification process should be carried out. It is connected to the Research Data and Software Management Policy, because the latter states that data must be handled in a secure and reliable manner. The Research Data Classification Policy will determine what level of security measures are necessary to manage data securely.
Researchers who need help with managing their data and software can reach out to the RDM Support Desk (rdm@vu.nl) and consult the new Research Support Handbook, a community-led resource about research data and software management, which is maintained by a large representation of NeRDS. This resource helps researchers to put the policy principles into practice.