Instructor Notes

General Advice

  • This workshop is designed for a mixed audience of PhD students and postdocs. Some will have never thought about RDM; others will have some experience. Pitch the teaching at beginners but use the challenges to stretch more experienced participants.

  • The workshop can be delivered in person or online. All challenges are designed to work in both settings — participants work in pairs or small groups using the shared challenge data files.

  • Encourage participants to relate every topic to their own research. The think-pair-share and group discussion formats work well for this.

  • The timing for each episode is a guide. If a discussion is productive, let it run — but keep an eye on the clock for Part 2, which has more content to cover.

Part 1: Research Data Management Principles

Episode 1: Why Does Research Data Management Matter?

  • The horror stories are there to motivate — keep them brief and punchy.
  • The data audit (Challenge 1) works well as an icebreaker. Give people time to think before sharing.

Episode 2: Planning Your Data — DMPs, Budgeting, and Funder Policies

  • The DMP Speed Round (Challenge 2) is a group exercise. Circulate and prompt groups that are stuck — common prompts: “What instruments will you use?”, “How much data per sample?”, “Where will you store 3 years of data?”
  • For the funder policy section, don’t try to cover every funder in detail. Focus on EPSRC and highlight that other funders differ.

Episode 3: FAIR Data Principles

  • Challenge 3 (data access statements) is key — it connects FAIR principles to something participants will actually have to write. Make sure to discuss all three fictional examples.

Episode 4: Data Storage, Security, and Organisation

  • Challenge 4 (FAIR self-assessment) can be uncomfortable for participants who score low. Frame it positively: this is about identifying areas for improvement, not judgement.

Episode 5: Sharing, Preserving, and Licensing Your Data

  • Challenge 5 (Fix This Folder) is hands-on. Make sure participants actually rename files on their laptops rather than just discussing what they would do.

Part 1 Capstone (Challenge 6a–c)

  • All groups work through the same three sub-challenges. Keep to time — 5 minutes each. Use a visible timer.

Part 2: Chemistry-Specific Data Management

Episode 6: The Reproducibility Crisis in Chemistry

  • Challenge 7 (Reproducibility Detective) generates good discussion. If time permits, ask groups to share the most surprising missing detail they found.

Episode 7: Electronic Lab Notebooks

  • This is a teaching-only episode. If participants have questions about specific ELNs, note them for discussion during the break or afterwards.

Episode 8: Metadata and Chemical Data Standards

  • Challenge 9b (InChI and SMILES) requires internet access. Test the NCI Chemical Identifier Resolver beforehand to make sure it is available.

Episode 9: Chemistry Data Repositories

  • Challenge 10 requires internet access. If re3data.org is slow, have a backup plan (e.g. show a pre-prepared search result).

Episode 10: Managing Data from Common Chemistry Techniques

  • Challenge 11 (multi-technique DMP) is the most substantial exercise in Part 2. Give groups time to discuss before reporting back.

Episode 11: PSDI and the Chemistry Data Landscape

  • If delivering with PSDI colleagues, this is a natural handover point for a live demo of PSDI tools.

Post-Workshop

  • Remind participants about the post-workshop action plan exercise (Challenge 13). Encourage them to complete it within a week while the workshop is fresh.
  • Share the feedback form link.