INGA: Okay, cool. So have you collected or generated any data so far, or are you going to do 
that in future? 
RAGNHILD: So we have received data from some of the corporate industry vendors on the 
project. And these are different types of shipping companies that are part of the project 
who are interested in looking at [ways] to decarbonize their fleet. So there are different 
types of ships. Some can be like [different carriers]. So we've received data from some of 
the vendors to help us understand what their energy usage is over time. a year, a couple of 
years, so we can appropriately assess which designs would be best for different ship 
designs. 
INGA: Okay, so what kind of data is it? 
RAGNHILD: It’s sort of [different proprietary information about the ships]
INGA: Okay. And are you done collecting the data? Are you going to get more? 
RAGNHILD: No, I'm definitely going to get more. But it's also unclear as to how much more I 
will be able to get because some of the smaller shipping companies may not necessarily 
collect that data about their own fleets.  
 INGA: Okay, thank you. So what comes to mind when you hear the term data management 
plan or DMP? 
RAGNHILD: I think what comes to mind for me is at least a way for me to organize the 
information in my own system. So I use NTNU's file management system to manage 
confidential files as well as files that I've anonymized. I think what also comes to mind is as 
we, as the project continues, we will probably bring on some more academic partners and 
managing their information and the data they'll be able to give us, I think can be a little 
challenging as well, especially in terms of confidentiality. I think what also comes to mind 
is I'm writing my first paper right now and I'm attempting to organize my own notes, all the 
papers, which ones are relevant, which ones aren't, into my own system, which has been 
quite challenging. Yeah. 
INGA: What, if anything, do you know about any requirements that there would be to write a 
data management plan? 
RAGNHILD: I don't think I'm aware of anything. I think when I was onboarded for the PhD 
last October, there wasn't much info. I don't think there was any information from the HR 
representative of my department. And that has since changed over. So it's a completely 
new person now. So I'm like really, really unsure. I just keep all of it in my work laptop, like 
with the Microsoft suite. So like Word, Excel. And then for notes, I use my personal...Google 
document to organize my papers for my literature review. But that isn't any sensitive 
information, I don't think.  
INGA: Do you remember who you, have you heard about data management plans from 
anyone else? And do you remember who, in that case, you heard it from? 
RAGNHILD: I mean, all I've heard, to be completely transparent, I don't even sit with my 
own research group because I live in [another city] with my partner and so I sit with like I sit 
with [university in that city], um and so everything I know about like data management 
especially for the project in particular is coming from my advisor who will recommend like 
okay like you write this paper or can I write papers like I will use this like application like 
Overleaf for like whatever to um manage my references and my writing and then he I think 
he also completely works on the Microsoft suite applications. So I think it's really just the 
two of us working through those channels.  
INGA: Yeah. So I thought that I would explain how a DMP is defined by NTNU, so that we 
know that we're talking about the same thing. So a DMP is a document that describes how 
data in a research project should be handled from the start of the project to the end, and 
throughout the research process, and then after the end of a project. And a DMP describes 
what data is collected or generated, deals with how data will be stored, described with 
metadata, analyzed, and possibly shared. And then a DMP is not the same thing as the 
notification form that you might send to Sit, but it's its own document that can be updated 
or changed as needed. So yeah. So have you written or are you going to write a data 
management plan for your project? 
RAGNHILD: I... I don't think so. I think the only way that a data management plan will be 
covered is when I'm writing my paper in the method and methodology section of how I've 
collected the data from vendors, how it's been anonymized. I think that would really be it. 
Yeah. 
INGA: Yeah. And if you were... I'm going to rephrase my question. So what would your 
thoughts be about actually writing a DMP like the one that I described? Do you have any 
thoughts on that? 
RAGNHILD: I think it might be useful in general for the project just to I would assume later 
on in the project, especially if the project gets more funding, I would assume that there will 
be more people brought on to do research in my specific area. And I think then the plan 
would be really, really essential. So everyone follows the same methodology or sort of like a 
way of organizing information when more people are brought on. I don't expect that to be 
for another year or two. But I think my PhD also has like a 25% like work requirement. So 
like, I think as I go further into my PhD and I'm working more and more like a private 
industry, like I, then I will probably, depending on the needs and demands, will have to write 
something like this. Like a DMP.  
INGA: Yeah. And if you were going to do that, do you have any thoughts on how you would 
try to find, how you would proceed, how you would try to find information about writing a 
plan like this? 
RAGNHILD: I would honestly, so because like my advisor has worked for, previous to being 
a professor has worked with a lot of these vendors and um I think I would probably just ask 
him what would be best, um because I’m sure he's also done it as well when he was 
working for these companies yeah. 
INGA: Yeah, so do you know anything about the, or I'm going to rephrase that, what do you 
know about the library's support services for data management or drafting data 
management plans? 
RAGNHILD: Oh, nothing. I think, like, I didn't even know that I, well, I think it's, definitely 
further complicated by the fact that I don't sit with my parent institution [yeah] like I sit with 
a completely different university where I don't have access to the services here um so I 
think like yeah I have no idea. I think I went to the [parent institution’s] uh library once to 
check out a book that like another PhD student had recommended to me but that's about 
it  
INGA: Yeah um yeah so um it's not a secret now, but the library does have quite a few 
resources to teach or to talk to PhDs about these kinds of things. Do you have any thoughts 
on how the library could more easily or better reach PhDs with that kind of information? 
RAGNHILD: I think definitely the onboarding process. would be helpful like not only did I 
like maybe, I'm also like not Norwegian so like I think that's maybe also complicating like 
the onboarding but like when we were onboarding I think just having not like to only enlist 
the services about like what the library can do for you or sort of the resources available to 
academics here for the different institutions would be really helpful but I mean, like, for 
example, I didn't even know about, like, unions for academics. Like, that information was, 
like, it was sort of, like, shared through the PhDs, like, socially than it was in any official 
capacity. So definitely onboarding and also maybe, like... I do receive, I think they're called 
Gemini emails from NTNU institution about different research happenings going on. But I 
think administratively, I don't receive many emails from NTNU about things. But also, I don't 
think my department does a very good job about communicating with the PhDs in general. 
Outside from my advisor, the other professors and stuff, they don't, I'm not even sure they 
know. 
INGA: Do you have any thoughts on if you are going to write a DMP, if you would want to 
attend a course on how to write it?  
RAGNHILD: I would be actually very interested in a seminar. I think there are some optional 
courses that can be available. I definitely would attend one online. Like obviously in [city 
where I live], like I also don't even get emails from [the University in the city I live]. So it's 
like, I don't really have access to either. 
INGA: Okay. Do you have like a study place at [the University in the city you live]? 
RAGNHILD: Yeah. I'm like a guest researcher and like a desk in the department. Yeah. 
INGA: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So if you wanted to do a DMP seminar or a course, what would you 
want it to sort of entail? Like a demonstration or? 
RAGNHILD: I think maybe a demonstration, but also, like, especially with the different types 
of collection methods for different types of academics, I think that would be really helpful 
as well, because I'm not a super technical, like, I don't code in my PhD. And so, like, 
obviously, there's, like, people who work with, like, a lot of data. I'm sure there is, like, a 
something that would work best for them. And someone who works with a bit more like 
qualitative, like hard to measure, like maybe like people who do a lot of interviews, like the 
different types of DMPs would be really, really helpful. Because I think for the different 
papers I'll be writing, like I think the data will be vastly different for the different papers.  
INGA: And I think you kind of said this, but do you think that writing a data management 
plan would be sort of like a useful exercise for you for the project?  
RAGNHILD: I mean, absolutely. I think everyone should do it or has to do it anyways when 
they are writing their method and methodology section of any paper they write. Yeah. So 
regardless of whether or not it's a 10-page fully fleshed out plan versus a one-page, this is 
my data collection method or management plan for how I... manage to write this paper I 
think that like would be very helpful at least for me because I'm pulling mine from a 
previous PhD from my advisor yeah  
INGA: yeah I realize you haven't written it yet so this might be hard to answer but do you 
have any thoughts on how a DMP could be as useful as possible to you like what would you 
want to be part of it or how would you want it to be to be as useful as it could be sort of 
RAGNHILD: I think that's a little tricky for sure. I have had to definitely experiment through 
the last couple months to figure out a system that works for me, but also works for my 
advisor, especially since I think different professors and advisors prefer different 
applications to work from. And obviously, I use the Microsoft Suite with my advisor, and so 
a lot of our data management goes through that. But I think... Yeah, definitely some more. If 
just like even an overview, the different types of choices I could have to organize my 
information, like would be very helpful. 
INGA: Yeah. Do you think that you would... sort of um actively use the plan in your project 
so let's say you write it and then after a while you're like you go check back and check have I 
updated this um have I followed the plan okay one or two should I make a change like do 
you think that's something you would want to do 
RAGNHILD: I mean, I I essentially right now what I have is like a very rough outline of what 
my plan is. And then I have like my information in my Excel sheets. And then I I'm actually in 
the middle of writing my method of methodologies right now for my first paper. And so like I 
am revisiting. my original sort of like rough outline of how I started to think about organizing 
information and then revisited my Excel to edit and then like cross-referenced it with like 
the previous literature review that like my colleague had written. 
INGA: Yeah, so it could be useful for when you're sort of writing your methodology, like what 
were my thoughts? 
RAGNHILD: Yeah, that's exactly what I'm using it for.  
INGA: Yeah, okay, that's smart. Yeah. Is there any kind of other help that you would like in 
the process of writing a data management plan, like a template or some guidance like one-
to-one or anything else really. 
RAGNHILD: I think it's like so hard because it's like everyone's research is like so different 
and like I think the way that people prefer to organize it I don't think like an outline 
specifically would help I think it's more like here are some like tools and resources that like 
could be helpful and if you like are interested in using this suite of applications or this suite 
of applications like here's like a short presentation or a video you could watch on how 
people usually use it. But I don't think like a, I think like part of organizing the information, I 
feel like it's part of a PhD. At least I find it very helpful for how I think about my information. 
So yeah.  
INGA: Okay. Yeah, so last-ish question. Is there anything else about DMPs that I haven't 
asked you about that you would like to say anything about? 
RAGNHILD: I don't think so. I don't think so, yeah. 
INGA: Okay. Um yes and then the final-final question um is there anything that would make 
a DMP or writing one more sort of interesting or attractive it's not the right word but I can't 
find the word that I want or relevant to you like if it was mandatory then you would have to 
do it I guess but if you knew more about the reason for writing it or like what would make 
you want to go like “oh yeah that's something I want to do” 
RAGNHILD: I feel like it might be a little redundant to require maybe academics to have a 
data management plan because I think. It's so difficult, at least when people are learning to 
do research, there's a big learning curve with how to do academic research. A big part of it 
is collecting and organizing the information, which is almost like what I feel, at least for me, 
is an essential part of the PhD. It could be a little redundant requiring a plan when it's 
something that everyone, I think, in theory should be doing. Even if you're doing the 
literature research, like, PhD, like, there is some sort of, like, organizing that I assume you 
have to do. Yeah. 
INGA: Okay, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was the final question, so I'm going to stop.