The NeRDS community is constantly moving and innovating, with people who are in constant contact with each other, the university, researchers and colleagues.
The NeRDS is set up according to the hub and spokes model. A core team has the function of the hub and acts as the central place where information, management and support are bundled and shared with the decentralised spokes. The spokes are the faculty support organisations and other central services involved in RDM support.
The great advantage of this organisational form is the possibility of making connections without a strict hierarchical organisation. The various support services of VU Amsterdam all have similar goals. By connecting them according to the hub and spokes model, we are better able to share knowledge, resources, support staff and competences. The result is high-level support within easy reach for researchers and a clear and recognisable place where knowledge and information come together.
Network of experts
The aim of Research (Data) Support is to provide high-quality support to researchers on facilitating good data management and enabling them to work according to the FAIR principles, hence increasing the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability of their data.
RDM Support at VU Amsterdam consists of a multidisciplinary network of experts, with expertise on general RDM issues, training, Data Management Plans, IT solutions, information security, privacy, legal and ethical issues in the context of research data management. This support is provided by various services, both at faculty and central level, each having their own tasks, roles and responsibilities, work closely together and are complementary and dependent on each other.
Goals and ambitions
The available support is combined in the Network Research Data Support (NeRDS), with as main goals:
- Increase awareness on the merits of research data management
- Making research data management easier and more efficient
- Help researchers in organising the "mandatory/necessary" elements of their research and to ensure that they are enabled to follow of the FAIR principles
- Making VU research more visible and accessible
- Facilitating interdisciplinary research
- Increasing the trustworthiness of science
- Making science as open as possible
The ambition of the network is that it is a recognisable and lively place for all questions related to research data management. The two main tasks of the NeRDS are:
- Managing RDM tools and services in a management organisation that ensures continuity of services to researchers
- Bundling and coordinating RDM support so that fragmentation of services is prevented and advice is coordinated as well as possible
Connect
The NeRDS team consists of a core team of the University Library and the Information Technology department, who cooperate closely together with research support experts within the faculties and research institutes. Find out more on the find support pages.
To keep researchers and research supporters updated on all things related to data management, events, privacy & protection and related IT solutions, the NeRDS publishes a newsletter. Stay up to date and subscribe to the newsletter.
An overview of the usage of RDM services and infrastructure in 2023 is given in the RDM monitor.
