Frequently Asked Questions

Research data are as diverse as the research topics and areas of science. Research data for natural scientists tend to be numerical data (numbers) in large quantities, but also interview data, audio and video recordings, scanned texts and images and much more belong to research data. Thus, all materials and data that are available in digital form and used for research are suitable for long-term storage in research data management.

Research data during and after the project period

There are two important phases in the storage of research data:

1. During the project period
   The research data should mostly only be available to you and your employees. The data are usually subject to frequent changes or the amount is constantly increasing. During the project period you should save the data e.g. on project drives or in UHHShare. If you only save the data locally on your PC, there is a risk of complete loss due to theft of the device or hardware damage. You should therefore always ensure a backup.
   
   Research data (e.g. a series of measurements) that are no longer changed should be saved in research data management now.
2. After the project period
   If this has not already happened during the project period, you should include all research data that you have used and that are not in any other place (e.g. in a national / international center) are stored in the research data management with metadata described.
   
   Upon request, we will provide you with proof of the stored data, which you can present to the research funder.

For some research data (e.g. climate research, astronomy, physics, language research, social research) there are national or international centers for the safe storage of the data. You should use this in any case! You do not have to save your data with us again. However, you can set up proof of data storage. To do this, do not upload any data, just enter a few metadata and link this entry with your data.

No! You decide what happens to the data and who has access to the data. You have the choice between:

• the data can only be accessed by myself,
• I will make the data available to selected scientists,
• The data should be freely available for science (open data), here you still have the option to control the time of access via an embargo period.

First of all, only you and your project staff and of course the system administrators of the FDM or RRZ. If you wish, you can continue to make the data accessible. The system administrators of the FDM or RRZ will not make any data accessible without being asked.

All data managed by us will be stored for at least 10 years. You can set up longer retention periods at any time. Before the retention period expires, you will receive an e-mail at the stored address as a reminder. If you do not extend the retention period, the data will first be offered to the UHH archive for further storage and possibly taken over by it. The data will then be released for deletion. The metadata, which are expanded with information about the deletion, are retained.

You are responsible for safe storage in accordance with the requirements of the research funders and good scientific practice. Research data management is an offer that you can use. If you have any reservations or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

In principle, the research data collected with public funds belongs to the employer.

Research data that has arisen in the context of projects with companies or with the financial participation of companies may belong to the clients. You may not be allowed to save this data with us. Please take a look at the relevant contract. If storage is not expressly excluded, you may at least save the data to other people without further approval.

We will save the research data. You can, however, either release the data for yourself, copy the data or, if necessary, have access to the data via the system administration.

So that data is not accidentally lost, you must not delete or change any data you have set yourself. You can upload a new data set. If you actually no longer need the previous versions, you can have this data deleted by the administrators.