2025-05-20 –, Joost den Draaijer
Research data reuse is a crucial aspect of sustainable research practices, yet cultural and structural barriers persist. Research support professionals are uniquely positioned to facilitate and foster data reuse. In this open discussion, we will explore our roles in embedding research data reuse in academic culture, identifying challenges and strategies to support researchers in making better use of existing data.
The reuse of research data is an essential component of Open Science and sustainable research practices, yet it remains underutilized in many disciplines. As research support evolves, we have the potential to play a key role in fostering a culture where researchers actively seek, trust, and reuse existing datasets.
In this Birds of a Feather discussion, we invite all research support professionals to explore the extent to which we could take an active role in promoting research data reuse, and how we could to this. Should we act as facilitators and educators of data reuse? What barriers currently prevent researchers from using existing data, and how can we help address these issues?
We aim to facilitate an open and informal discussion, drawing on the experiences of participants to explore practical interventions, necessary policy changes, and potential collaborations. By the end of the session, we hope to have identified key actions that research support professionals can take to support data reuse and contribute to a more sustainable research ecosystem.
At the Research Data Support department of the Utrecht University, fostering data reuse is high on the agenda. At this SURF Research Day session, the following delegates will represent our team: Coosje Veldkamp (policy advisor FAIR data & software, spearheading the data reuse focus area ), Lilli van Wielink (team coordinator), Neha Moopen (data manager), and Stefan Einarson (data specialist).
