Research data management describes all activities that enable the responsible collection, handling, storage, organization, documentation, sharing, publication, and preservation of research materials that support your findings. 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 Security, Research Services, and SFU Library. 

 April 29, 2025, 10:30am - 12:30pm 

Part 1: Research data: planning your project, funding, and contracts

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 look at the early stages of a research project process from the data management perspective, including responsibilities for managing data and accessing relevant institutional support. We discuss requirements for data management in different funding opportunities, and considerations for data management at the start of the grants process. 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 will also be discussed. 

After this workshop, you will have greater awareness of:

• Some tools to create a collaborative planning workspace for your research project and partners;
• Creating a data management plan for your research project using the online DMP Assistant;
• Data management requirements for some of the major grant funding agencies;
• Grant- or contract-specific compliance for data management;
• Different types of research data contracts that might be needed for your project, and how to request them;
• Scenarios or instances where Research Services will need to be involved. 

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

Register

 April 30, 2025, 10:30am - 12:30pm 

Part 2: Research ethics, research security, and data 

Research projects that involve human participants require review, approval, and ongoing oversight by the Research Ethics Board throughout the lifecycle of the project. Projects often include working with data (including sensitive data) which may be governed by legal and regulatory frameworks. In the first part of this session we discuss types of information from a research ethics perspective, review pathways, and informed consent as it relates to managing research data. We will also examine considerations for collection, storage, security, access, sharing, current and future use, retention, and destruction of data, as well as privacy and confidentiality considerations. 

The second part of this session addresses developments in research security policy and its implications for managing data. Research security “refers to the measures that protect knowledge, technologies, and data that could assist in the advancement of a foreign threat actor's geopolitical, economic, and security interests to the detriment of Canada's. The target assets can vary from applications in weapons of mass destruction programs (i.e., chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) to dual-use technologies (i.e., technologies with both civilian and military applications), such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and bio- and nanotechnology, to intellectual property and confidential information used for research” (Public Safety Canada). In recent years, the Government of Canada has implemented policies and announced resources to assist academic institutions with protecting Canadian knowledge and research. These developments and their possible implications for protecting research data will be discussed. 

After this workshop, you will have greater awareness of:

• Managing your data throughout the lifecycle of a human research project in accordance with applicable research ethics legal, regulatory, policy and procedures frameworks;
• The new federal research security guidelines and their relationship to management and protection of research data.

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

Register

 May 1, 2025, 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.  

After this workshop, you will have greater awareness of:

• How to access compute and storage infrastructures to support your research;
• Local and national supports for data-intensive research;
• Integrating effective Research Data Management methods into your workflow;
• Organizing and preparing your research data for sharing and publication. 

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

Register