INESC TEC is one of the ten National Centres for Research Data Management recognised by FCT

Improving the management of research data in Portugal and encouraging the adoption of good practices in line with national and European priorities is the main objective of the FCT- approved FAIRWay project – which acknowledges INESC TEC as one of the ten National Centres for Research Data Management. INESC TEC leads this project – with the participation of CIIMAR and BIOPOLIS-InBIO -, which starts this January.

Focused on advancing Research Data Management (RDM) and Open Science practices, FAIRWay features an activity plan that covers different stages of the data lifecycle – from raising awareness and training to making open data sets available. The objective is to strengthen RDM in Portugal and encourage the adoption of good practices

“FAIRway’s activities are structured according to three main axes. The first focuses on awareness and training, as well as the training of early-career researchers and data stewards,” explained João Aguiar Castro. According to the project coordinator and member of INESC TEC Management Support Service, the second axis focuses on the implementation of technological solutions that improve data accessibility and sharing. “We seek to optimise the sharing, storage and accessibility of data. In this sense, we will map data management practices at the institutional level to facilitate the integration of tools,” he added.

Finally, the third axis promotes the practical application of these solutions in real cases, encouraging the availability of open data sets and contributing to the creation of a qualified and collaborative user community. “We will adopt a learning-through-practice approach, based on the use cases of the FAIRway thematic lines, to train researchers in the optimisation of RDM processes.”

In short, and according to João Aguiar Castro, the idea is to “promote FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable – data, fostering collaboration and training in research data management, and contributing to a sustainable ecosystem”.

FAIRway – A Pathway to Promote Open Science through Research Data Life Cycle Management – has been approved under the National Programme for Open Science and Open Research Data, promoted by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Research Data Management Centres, in addition to serving their institutional communities, are expected to foster cooperation between scientific entities, promoting the sharing of best practices and knowledge for more efficient and sustainable data management.

INESC TEC is an early adopter of the FAIR principles. The TAIL project (Management of research data from production to storage and sharing), which closed in 2019 and evaluated tools and workflows in RDM, contributed to this adoption. Currently, through the Management Support Service, the Institute provides an institutional data repository, which ensures open access, DOI allocation and long-term data preservation, in addition to specialised support in the development of Data Management Plans. All this knowledge has been shared, not only with other institutions, but also with PhD students – namely through the development of a RDM course by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.