Research Data Support at Goethe University Frankfurt

At Goethe University, a central research data support team assists researchers from all departments in the professional management of research data.

We advise researchers on the responsible handling of research data – from planning through to publication. We support you from the application stage through to project implementation and ensuring the long-term availability and reuse of your data. This makes research transparent, reproducible and reusable.

How we can support you

You can make use of these and further services we offer throughout the entire research process. Please feel free to contact us at any time with your specific enquiries:

Before the start of the project

Grant application consulting: From the initial draft to the site visit
Creation of a data management plan. We support you in all phases of developing a data management plan. In addition, we offer a local instance of RDMO, a tool that enables you to systematically record, document and continuously manage all key information relating to your planned research project.
We are happy to discuss ethical issues relating to your research project with you (e.g., assessing the sensitivity of the resulting data, measures to protect participants, options for data archiving and re-use, as well as associated risks). In particular, we support you in preparing ethics applications.
Clarification of the legal framework: We will discuss with you the legal requirements for the collection, processing and long-term storage of your research data.

During the course of the project

Assistance with drafting legally compliant informed consent forms in accordance with the GDPR
Support with secure data storage and organisation
Discipline- and method-specific support with the preparation and documentation of research data (e.g. metadata, drafting of methods reports)
Provision of suitable tools and software (OMERO, GitLab, eLabFTW, RDMO)
Targeted training courses and workshops on specific issues

Upon completion of the project

Advice on selecting a suitable repository or data centre
Support with the publication and long-term archiving of research data
Licences and access management in the context of responsible data reuse

Discipline- and method-specific advice and support from Data Stewards

Our interdisciplinary Data Steward team consists of experienced researchers from various disciplines with proven research expertise. This disciplinary and methodological diversity enables us to provide nuanced, context-sensitive advice on research data management. We therefore take into account both the specific characteristics of different disciplines as well as the varying requirements of diverse approaches to research, types of data and project contexts. All researchers at Goethe University can make use of our data services, regardless of their academic status or whether their research project is funded by a third party.

Immediate support: Enquiries requiring minimal effort can be processed at short notice and free of charge, subject to availability.

Extended support: Should extensive coordination of data management be required within larger project contexts, a contribution towards costs may be necessary. Please contact us before applying for funding so that a cost estimate can be provided at an early stage.

Our Data Steward service includes, but is not limited to:

Joint development of a data policy tailored to your research consortium
Support in developing a data management plan
Risk assessment and evaluation of the sensitivity of research data
Measures derived from this assessment to ensure data security and the protection of research participants
Support in the development of a metadata schema
Development of a methods report
Advice on anonymisation and pseudonymisation strategies
Support in finding suitable repositories
Support in preparing the publication of data

Tools and Infrastructures

The research data and research software team offer support for all project phases, drawing on their own research expertise and experience. The service portfolio includes both digital tools and infrastructure. Our services include:

Electronic laboratory notebooks (eLabFTW) for laboratory work
Git-based applications for software version control
The Goethe University Data Repository (GUDe) for the storage and publication of research data
Support for qualitative research data
RDMO for the collaborative development and maintenance of data management plans
Omero as an image data repository for working with large image datasets
In addition, the team organises events and training courses as well providing a self-study module on the topic of research data management (currently only available in German).

The following fliers can be downloaded for further insight into the key topics.

We also provide insights into the handling of research data and research software in various episodes of the UB podcast Insights into Research Data and Research Software.