Chalmers e-commons

Data Management Plans

Data management plans describe how research data will be managed throughout a research activity and what happens to the data after the research activity’s lifetime.

Data management plans can be seen as planning tools for research data, covering all aspects of research data management throughout the data lifecycle. They are also useful tools for making sure that internal and external data management requirements are met. 

It is worth creating a data management plan as early as possible in the research process, to ensure that the data management aspects listed below are considered in good time:

  • Data collection and sources 
  • Data access and use rights 
  • Sharing data with third parties 
  • Regulatory and legal aspects (GDPR, Ethical review act, sharing data, etc) 
  • Data security 
  • Choice of storage solution 
  • Resources required for research data management 
  • Preserving and publishing research data 

The contents of a data management plan vary from case to case – the focus is not on answering every question, but on using the plan as a checklist and a way of documenting what has been done and considered until that point in time. 

 
Data Management Plan requirements 

Since 2023 Chalmers requires all research activities to create and maintain a data management plan.  Some research funders also require this for their projects, such as the Swedish Research Council, FORMAS and projects funded through Horizon Europe grants. 

Chalmers’ data management tool 

Chalmers Data Office offers a free data management plan tool called Chalmers DS Wizard. You can log in with your CID and follow the instructions from there.