Growing Cultural Change: Sustainable Research Data Management Rooted in Governance, Incentives, and Training

Cultural change, referring to transformation of collective behaviour, norms, values, and practices within communities over time, is pivotal for advancing research data management (RDM) practices. This submission builds upon a 2023 CoRDI contribution [1] and two subsequent workshops involving participants from NFDI and beyond. In these workshops we explored five different interdisciplinary use cases that highlight both successes and challenges in promoting cultural change for improving RDM practices: 1. Open Data at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI): The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed rapid adoption of open data practices at RKI, driven by public demand for transparency. This transformation underscores the role of external pressure and top-down regulations in accelerating cultural shifts. 2. The Human Connectome Project: This neuroscience initiative established enduring governance models and technical standards for data sharing. Its success demonstrates how substantial funding and visionary leadership can entrench open science practices. 3. Flightpaths of Bumblebees: A neurobiology group at Bielefeld University incrementally adopted open science workflows over two decades, showcasing the importance of sustained institutional support and tailored training. 4. pyiron Framework: Developed at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, pyiron exemplifies how user-centric infrastructure design and secure funding can foster reproducible research in materials science. 5. HERMES data competence centre: This humanities initiative promotes data literacy through collaborative training programs, emphasizing gradual cultural change supported by interdisciplinary networks. By analyzing these use cases, we have identified factors that determine successful cultural change in three fields of action: governance & guidelines, incentive structures, and educational training. The analysis reveals that sustainable cultural change requires aligning technical solutions with researchers' daily practices while embedding long-term institutional commitments and stakeholder buy-in. Governance models must transcend project-based funding to ensure persistent infrastructure support. Appropriate guidelines must shift responsibility for research data sharing from an individual researcher's voluntary task to a systematic institutional norm adopted and supported across the scientific community. Incentive systems must recognize data and methods sharing as scholarly contributions, while training programs must address diverse disciplinary needs. At CoRDI 2025, we aim to discuss with a broad audience how these insights can inform NFDI's role as a catalyst for this cultural change. By fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration and embedding RDM into academic workflows, NFDI can help establish a more inclusive, transparent, sustainable, and innovative research ecosystem.