Assessing the Impact of Research Data Management Initiatives on Doctoral Research

Embracing its civic mission, Hasselt University stands at the intersection of academia and society, acknowledging the responsibility to share knowledge and contribute to the community. Accordingly, innovation and openness are among our university's core values. Not surprisingly, Open Science (OS) and research data management (RDM) have been high on the university’s agenda. The doctoral school policy plan 2019-2024 prioritized “implementing the awareness and training plan for (young) researchers on the topic of Research Data Management”, in line with the general RDM policy plan established in 2018. Concurrently, a dedicated RDM support team was formed to offer guidance and develop a training program. Additionally, funders set a formal requirement to submit a data management plan (DMP) within the first six months of the project. More recently, efforts have shifted towards monitoring compliance with the DMP requirement. Did the recent institutional policies, efforts, and decisions impact the daily practices of doctoral researchers? Thus far, we have captured five key performance indicators assessing ORCiD, FAIR, DMP, Open Access, and Open Data. Yet, to truly incentivize OS practices, we need to identify the benefits for the doctoral researcher and assess the long-term impact on their careers.