News

The Alberta Research Data Management Information Network (ARMIN), created in 2020 with CUE’s first SSHRC Connection grant, has recently been awarded $40,679 from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (DRAC, formerly NDRIO) to recruit a Research Data Manager and Research Assistants to support the curation of data generated by the Special Call for Research Projects on COVID-19. ARMIN is a novel organization aimed at assisting Tri-Agency-eligible small universities and colleges in developing their institutional Research Data Management Strategies. In March, 2021, the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) released the Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy, which sets standards related to the research data life cycle, in particular the curation and storage of research data according to FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperativity and Reusability) principles.

Who is ARMIN?

The ARMIN team members are:

• Dr. Colin Neufeldt, Professor in the Faculty of Arts;
• Dr. Ramses Ilarraza, Asst. Vice-President, Research & Faculty Development, and Dean of Graduate Studies (interim);
• Mr. Dan Mirau, Library Director; and,
• Ms. Victoria Eke, Scholarly Communications Librarian.

Award from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada

The ARMIN team submitted an application to the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (DRAC, formerly NDRIO), and was awarded $40,679 to recruit a Research Data Manager, research assistants, and cover expenses for the curation of data related to the Special Call for Research Projects on COVID-19. More information on this will be provided in the near future.

“New DRAC funding under the COVID-19 Data Curation will enable ARMIN to process data that was generated as a result of a variety of research projects, including CUE’s internal Special Call for Research Projects on COVID-19 launched in May, 2020. The DRAC funding grant will also enable ARMIN to recruit a Data Manager, who will develop internal processes for data stewardship, as well as several Research Assistants, who will conduct data collection, cleaning and validation for research projects undertaken at post-secondary institutions that are members of ARMIN. ARMIN and CUE are grateful for the  generous support of DRAC in facilitating ARMIN’s next stage of development.” Colin Neufeldt

The Research Data Manager will be recruited soon, and will conduct a series of activities to assist CUE in the compliance with the new Tri-Agency policy.

“CUE is emerging as a leader in the province of Alberta for small universities seeking to comply with the Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy, and, therefore, to maintain eligibility for funding from these important sponsors. The Research Data Manager at CUE, funded initially from this award, will assist CUE in establishing internal framework for data management, which will guide CUE members in this new area.  Concordia University of Edmonton agrees with the Tri-Agency position that ‘…research data collected with the use of public funds should be responsibly and effectively managed and belong, to the fullest extent possible, in the public domain and available for reuse by others.'” Ramses Ilarraza

For the institution, the funding provided by DRAC will help us generate the necessary capacity to manage the data generated from investigators at CUE in an appropriate and efficient manner.

“CUE Library is pleased to play an important role in this grant-funded initiative to expand local research data management capacity and support smaller Alberta institutions to comply with the Tri-Agency Policy.“ Dan Mirau

The incoming Research Data Manager will collaborate closely with both the Office of Research Services and the Library, both of which will benefit from the added expertise.

“I look forward to the development of research data management-related policy and procedure that will complement the work that has been done thus far with CUE’s institutional repository, as well as the province-wide community of learning that will result from the launch of ARMIN.” Victoria Eke