Dr David Poger1
1Microscopy Australia, Sydney, Australia
Microscopy Australia is a consortium of university-based microscopy facilities funded by the Commonwealth through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), state governments and participating institutions. As the research community embraces the FAIR data principles (findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability) and publishers and funders require increasingly that research data be FAIR, a cohesive and consistent approach to data management across Microscopy Australia from data capture through to storage and disposal, has become critical to improve the service provided to researchers. In this presentation, I will describe initiatives that Microscopy Australia has taken over the last two years to promote good practices in research data management. In particular, five principles have been developed to lay the foundation for research data management at Microscopy Australia: 1. Research data management planning; 2. Definition of data ownership, stewardship and custodianship; 3. Data identification and description; 4. Preservation of data quality and integrity; 5. Ensuring data storage, access and security. This has been followed by guidelines that outline responsibilities for researchers, facilities and Microscopy Australia. In addition, pilot programs have been run in cooperation with a range of stakeholders (ARDC, universities, eResearch specialists) to examine how facilities could enrich data by collecting metadata and persistent identifiers (including persistent identifiers for instruments) in a sustainable and systematic way with limited to no manual intervention. Overall, the research data management journey at Microscopy Australia has opened many opportunities to streamline processes at the facility and institutional levels, and enhance the value of data generated at Microscopy Australia.
Biography:
Dr David Poger (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8794-5688) was awarded his PhD from Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble (France) in 2005. He then moved to Australia where he worked as a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland. His research studied the structure and dynamics of cytokine receptors, biological membranes and antimicrobials using computer simulation. In 2020, David joined Microscopy Australia as Research Data Manager. He works with microscopy facilities across the country to assist them in data management and develop good practices. He is the national lead for the work package on big-data microscopy in the Australian Characterisation Commons at Scale (ACCS) project.