Data steward

TU Delft has chosen in its ambitious Open Science programme to integrate open science as the default way of practicing research and education. Data stewards are key for the implementation of FAIR data and FAIR software practices, which underpin open science.

TU Delft chooses to embed data stewards at the faculty level. You will be in close contact with researchers, data managers of research projects and PhD candidates. Making data FAIR has been part of the faculty policy since 2018 and is well integrated in the research cycle. Attention in the next phase for the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences is on expanding training in data management, as well as improving dataset quality, citations of datasets within articles and re-use of datasets. We also aim to improve education and workflows relating to research ethics and handling of personal data within the faculty.

With respect to FAIR software, TU Delft introduced a Research Software policy in 2021 and in the future the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences will focus on raising awareness of this policy and of good practices for managing and sharing software.

You will be key in designing processes and workflows with these goals in mind, liaising to other support services and further embedding FAIR data and FAIR software practices in the faculty. You’ll be training staff, identifying new developments, and advising management on next steps. You work closely at the faculty level with the other faculty data steward, data analysts, contract managers, and ICT and at the university level with a variety of teams as well as the data stewardship coordinator and colleague data stewards from other faculties.

Your main task is to advise and train PhD candidates, researchers and the faculty on research data and software management. You will work with the existing faculty data steward to:

• Advise and support researchers in drafting data management plans, writing data management sections in grant proposals and planning data management tasks in projects, in line with funder requirements, privacy and ethics regulations, and intellectual property rights considerations.
• Design and run disciplinary training events tailored to researchers’ needs and inspire researchers to participate at both faculty and university level.
• Develop and disseminate data management practices tailored to the types of research data generated in the faculty, for example in consultation with a planned assistant/associate professor in “Data driven research methods in Civil Engineering” or through engagement and collaboration with external RDM communities.
• Act as spokesperson within the faculty on data and software management, create awareness and explain to researchers the added value of good data and software management.
• Liaise with open science-related initiatives at the university level (TU Delft Open Science Programme, Open Science Community Delft, TU Delft Digital Competence Centre) to engage with researchers and promote open science practices within the faculty.
• Further develop and implement the software and data management and stewardship strategy and policy for the faculty.