PODMAN Project Develops Reference Model for Research Data Management

The project for the process-oriented development of management instruments for research data in their life cycle - PODMAN for short - has come to an end. The project team is now presenting the results in its final report.

Since universities and non-university research institutions are increasingly being held responsible for providing researchers with infrastructures and services for sustainable handling of research data, it is of central importance to present general guidelines for handling research data as well as subject and data-specific standards in an understandable and easily accessible manner. So far there has been no ideal guide for this.

The PODMAN project wanted to close this gap and provide an orientation framework that can be used flexibly to implement your own data management strategies.

In order to structure processes in research data management (RDM) accordingly, various goals were pursued. On the one hand, using the example of the University of Trier and ZPID, in the fields of humanities and psychology, the project analyzed who is involved in RDM infrastructures and services. On the other hand, instruments were developed in order to be able to work together and communicate successfully.

The project participants then presented the DIAMANT model (Designing an Information Architecture for Data Management Technologies), a reference model that is intended to help implement research data management. At the core of the model is the establishment of a central RDM information unit that controls the flow of information between all of those involved in the RDM process. Due to the possibility of outsourcing tasks, the implementation process remains flexible and efficient.

More information in the final report and on the PODMAN project page.

The PODMAN project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from 2017 to 2019.