Research Data Alliance (RDA) Education and Training on Handling of Research Data ‑ Interest Group (ETHRD‑IG)

Abstract

The RDA Education and Training on Handling of Research Data Interest Group (ETHRD-IG) is a community within the Research Data Alliance (RDA) dedicated to promoting and supporting the development of education and training initiatives for effective research data management (RDM). Its goal is to equip researchers, data stewards, and other stakeholders with the knowledge and skills needed to handle research data effectively across the data lifecycle.

ETHRD-IG develops frameworks and templates for RDM curricula suitable for a range of audiences, from early-career researchers to professional data stewards. It organizes community-driven workshops and webinars to share knowledge and practical tools for RDM education. It creates repositories of educational materials, including case studies, training modules, and online courses, that are openly available to the community and works with other RDA groups, such as the FAIR Data Maturity Model Working Group, to align training with broader initiatives.

The ETHRD-IG developed a set of minimum recommendations for training resource metadata and is working towards extended metadata recommendations. This is being adopted by EOSC projects and others.

Overview

Country	United Kingdom
Start date	2020
Annual Budget	n/a
Responsible organisation(s)	Academic cooperation
Target group(s)	Researchers, educators, data stewards, librarians, and policymakers involved in RDM education and training
Policy instrument type	Recommendation and Guidance

Background

Part of the RDA’s efforts to improve education and training on handling research data.

Objective(s)

To foster the development of curricula, guidelines, and resources to teach best practices in research data handling, covering topics such as data management planning, metadata creation, data sharing, FAIR principles, and data stewardship.

To serve as a platform for exchanging experiences, strategies, and best practices among members and related organizations.

To build partnerships across disciplines, regions, and institutions to address the evolving challenges of research data education.

To work on harmonizing RDM training resources to ensure global interoperability and to align training materials with standards like FAIR and Open Science principles.

To support institutions in building the infrastructure and expertise needed for sustainable RDM education programs.

Public access URL

https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/education-and-training-handling-research-data/activity/

All tags

• Human Capital
• United Kingdom
• 2020
• Academic cooperation
• Established researchers
• Higher education institutes
• Public research institutes
• Research support staff
• Teachers
• Strategies, agendas and plans
• Appropriate Training programs

This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.

This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.

© OECD 2025

   Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Attribution – you must cite the work.

Translations – you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text: In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and the translation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.

Adaptations – you must cite the original work and add the following text: This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.

Third-party material – the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and for any claims of infringement.

You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.

Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shall be Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one.