Open research data
Five senior researchers at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ on the movement towards more open data.
The requirements for open access to scientific information have increased in recent years. The goal is to increase the transparency and accessibility of research. It is expected to benefit the development of the research, industry and society at large.
Open data in Europe
In July 2012, the European Commission recommended that member states contribute to increased access to scientific information. As part of Horizon 2020, guidelines for open science were drawn up, covering both publications and research data. In the transition to Horizon Europe, it was made permanent and became mandatory. Researchers are now expected to make research data openly available.
By introducing the European Open Science Cloud, EOSC, an infrastructure where research data and metadata are to be made FAIR and machine-readable, the EU put research data management on the agenda. The goal is to create a virtual environment for researchers in Europe to be able to store, manage, analyze and reuse data according to the principles of open access. The plan is for the EOSC ecosystem to be launched and available to researchers in 2025.
There are also global collaborations to create an open science system. Already in 2013, the European Commission established the Research Data Alliance, RDA. It takes place in collaboration with the National Science Foundation in the USA and the Australian National Data Service, ANDS.
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Open data in Sweden
In Sweden, the Swedish Research Council has an assignment from the government to coordinate the national work to introduce open access to research data by 2026 at the latest.
FAIR research data
Researchers are also increasingly encouraged to make research data FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. This means that research data is managed in a way that makes it easy to find, access, connect with other data sets and reuse. The Swedish Research Council has also been tasked with developing criteria to be able to assess the extent to which research data produced with public funding meets the FAIR principles.
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The Swedish National Data Service (SND)
SND is a national research infrastructure which, from 2018, is run by a consortium consisting of seven universities. The universities in the consortium must build up expertise and offer support in various areas when it comes to handling research data. SND's activities are mainly financed by the Swedish Research Council. The University of Gothenburg is the host university for SND. SND also has a national network in which ¹û¶³´«Ã½ is a part.
Open data at ¹û¶³´«Ã½
At ¹û¶³´«Ã½, continuous work is ongoing with the development of infrastructure, guidelines and support for open access to research data. The work takes place within the framework of the Research Data Group. The Research Data Group constitutes an advisory and support function for researchers in matters relating to the handling and making available of research data. As support for the work, a policy and guidelines for handling research data have been produced [LINK]. The importance of open and transparent research is also highlighted in the university's principles for good research practice, which form part of the university's quality system [LINK].