Research data management describes all activities that support the responsible collection, handling, storage, organization, documentation, sharing, publication, and preservation of research data. Whether you’re new to SFU or need a quick refresher on working with and managing your research data effectively, join us for a series of three short in-person sessions over three days to learn about the processes, tools, and support available for your research project.

This coordinated orientation to the landscape of SFU resources and infrastructure for data management will be especially useful to faculty and lab or project managers. Each session will be co-presented by research support staff from relevant campus units including Institutional Strategic Awards, Research Computing, Research Ethics, Research Services, and SFU Library. 

 November 7, 2023, 10:30am—12:30pm 

Part 1: Introduction to researcher support and planning your project

A successful research project needs planning and often includes looking for grant funding. Many grants now require data management planning documentation and commitments on data storage and retention to be included in the application stage. In this session we discuss requirements for data management in different funding opportunities, and considerations for data management at the start of the grants process. We will also look at the early stages of a research project process from the data management perspective, including formulating your research questions, thinking about your project team and responsibilities for managing data, and accessing relevant institutional support.   

This session is in W. A. C. Bennett Library (SFU Burnaby), Room 7200, and will be presented by Institutional Strategic Awards, Research Computing, and SFU Library. 

Register

 November 8, 2023, 10:30am—12:30pm 

Part 2: Research ethics, contracts, and data 

Some research projects require you to go through Ethics review, as they involve working with sensitive data or data governed by regulatory and legal frameworks. In this session we discuss different kinds of approval and agreements for working with data, types of information from an Ethics standpoint, and informed consent as it relates to managing research data. We will also examine considerations for collection, storage, security and privacy, managing appropriate access, and current and future use of sensitive data from an Ethics standpoint. While data retention through online publishing is encouraged for future reuse, in some cases Ethics review stipulates that certain data needs to be destroyed in a reasonable time-frame. In some cases it may be necessary for you to have data transfer or access agreements; for example, with secondary data provided under specific terms. SFU supports for different types of research contracts, and what options exist for controlled-access secure data storage in these cases, will also be discussed.  

This session is in W. A. C. Bennett Library (SFU Burnaby), Room 7200, and will be presented by Research Computing, Research Ethics, and Research Services. 

Register

 November 9, 2023, 10:30am—12:30pm 

Part 3: Data storage, computing, and publishing

The final workshop in our series will help guide researchers to resources and support on campus for their data collection and analysis, active data storage, and long-term storage needs. Members of the SFU Research Computing Group (RCG) and the Library will talk about how to incorporate research data management practices into your work through methods such as building a data collection and management pipeline for your research team or writing a good lab data manual. Most appropriate for researchers doing data-intensive, digital research, the RCG will also talk about the infrastructure and people both locally and nationally who can help with things like accessing high performance computing resources, training, data storage, and developing methods to take advantage of available resources.  

This session is in W. A. C. Bennett Library (SFU Burnaby), Room 7200, and will be presented by Research Computing and SFU Library. 

Register