ELIXIR-CONVERGE D3.2 Toolkit extension based on first wave demonstrators

The scope of deliverable D3.2 is the extension of the content of the WP3 data management toolkit (named RDMkit) based on the first wave of demonstrator projects (WP5). In order to achieve the deliverable, we established and applied processes to allow communities to contribute and extend the content of the RDMkit, including the ones involved in the first wave of demonstrator projects.  

As already reported in D3.1: “The  ELIXIR RDMkit is intended to support researchers and data ××stewards to enable lifecycle management for their research data, according to international standards. The aim is to support FAIR by Design: from the first steps of producing FAIR data and Data Management Planning to the final steps of depositing data in public archives.” The expansion described in this report adds specific and  practical research data management knowledge for several Life Science domains. As the RDMkit is highly interlinked, this deliverable reports all extensions since the started toolkit (D3.1). 

“The vision of the Toolkit has matured into three, interlinked, streams:

1. The RDMkit, a website-based guide for life scientists and data stewards in their efforts to better manage their research data.

2. Tool Assemblies, which are examples of combining  tools to cover the distinct stages of the RDM Lifecycle and assembly patterns to report how tools can be combined and replaced by local specialisations. 

3. Data Stewardship Wizard, which leads data stewards through decision trees to choose the right tools, resources and practices when preparing their data management plans.“

The RDMkit has been the main focus in WP3 so far and was released for beta testing on the 31st of January and publicly the 31st of March 2021. It provides rapid and maximum benefit to Life Science communities linked with the involved ELIXIR Nodes and effectively coordinates and  integrates the work of the CONVERGE WPs around a common goal. It is also a valuable resource for funders as is demonstrated by the HorizonEurope programme guide, released on the 26th of June 2021, explicitly recommending the RDMkit. The RDMkit has a broad target audience ranging from researchers, data managers and data stewards in laboratories, facilities or universities to  project consortium coordinators, funding agencies and policy makers.

The  RDMkit consists of static web pages, which are  generated with Jekyll from easy to edit markdown files under version control in git in a GitHub repository (https://github.com/elixir-europe/rdmkit).

After the public release further content has been added through two virtual events (contentathons), organized by WP3 in May and June 2021, in which RDMkit editors and contributors from WP5 discussed and extended the RDMkit to better cover the needs of a set of domains including those of the demonstrator use cases. In addition to this, contributors representing different domains outside of ELIXIR CONVERGE have also started to add to the RDMkit by following the established  contribution and editorial processes.

The demonstrator projects or use cases pertain to data management tools and best practices in several domains. The topics added by WP5 into RDMkit for this deliverable include: Epitranscriptomics, marine metagenomics, human genomics data, specifically in Norway and Luxembourg ELIXIR Nodes, and the EBI Covid-19 Data Portal. Importantly, communities outside WP5 volunteered to contribute to RDMkit content. For instance, the microbial biotechnology and the bioimaging communities happily contributed to RDMkit, acknowledging the key role of RDMkit in disseminating data management tools and best practices. Moreover, descriptions of local/national infrastructure have been included in RDMkit as inspiring examples of integrated tools and services, including national infrastructure solutions, for research data management in Life Sciences.

This deliverable reports on the extension of the RDMkit based on the first wave demonstrators (WP5) and additional content added since the public release. Extensions are documented through screenshot examples and we also describe observed challenges and further steps.

The RDMkit is available at  https://rdm.elixir-europe.org/ and https://rdmkit.elixir-europe.org/ (aliases) and is enabled by 90 contributors, describing 270 tools on 70 individual pages. The RDMkit has been visited by 2,900 individuals from 72 countries in the first two months since its official public release in May 2021.