Recommendations for Data Stewardship Skills, Training and Curricula with Implementation Examples from European Countries and Universities

Data stewards, who plan, manage and maintain the data of a research unit, are skilled professionals essential in bringing about a culture change for data management, sharing research data, and developing infrastructures and data policies. At present, this essential role is not supported by validated curricula which produce individuals with the competencies, skills and capabilities the research community desperately needs to manage data.

In this report, the EOSC Association Task Force “Data stewardship, curricula and career paths” identifies how data stewardship is operationalised and implemented in the “real world”. Using implementation cases as the foundation for our recommendations, we move beyond literature and landscaping studies and build on practical experiences, including potentials, challenges and barriers to data stewardship.

Three priority areas form the major themes of this report, which are exemplified on European, national, and institutional levels are the following:

●      Skills, roles, and competencies: How to develop a competency profile for core data stewardship activities and define training levels needed by the different data steward roles in and outside the EOSC ecosystem.

●      Context: models and landscape: The role(s) of data stewards, their core activities, possible specialisations, or extension activities are defined in the context in which these roles operate.

●      Training and curricula: Produce guidelines for data stewardship curricula, which could include university curricula and short training, but ultimately as a sustainable training structure that can live on after the work of the task forces has been completed.

The report includes 17 Recommendations for European and national policymakers, funders and governments and 13 Recommendations for Research Performing Organizations on competencies training and curricula for data stewards; curricula and training for researchers, funders and decision makers; career paths; policies, data stewardship communities and networks. 

Whilst this report recommends approaches to curriculum and profile development, there are still barriers and leverage opportunities to overcome at the local level of implementation. Therefore, our recommendations are directed at decision-makers at the managerial and administrative levels, who can consult, coordinate and nudge recommendations into action.