As part of its commitment to leading agri-food data management, the University of Guelph will host a workshop series Feb. 21-24 to show researchers how to make their data discoverable and reusable.
Funded through a grant from Compute Ontario, the four-day workshop is part of an ongoing University-wide strategy led by Michelle Edwards, director of agri-food data strategy with the Office of Research, to share FAIR data principles.
Edwards is spearheading the Agri-food Data Canada (ADC) initiative, a decentralized ecosystem for agri-food research data at the University of Guelph and a hub for other agri-food data centres across Canada. Agri-food Data Canada offers data management support, facilitates access to research computing services, and develops research data infrastructure, all intended to better enable researchers to share and reuse research data.
“Researchers do not always have reuse in mind when planning data collection. This workshop series will teach them how important it is and how they can benefit from gaining new skills that will help them showcase their research data,” said Edwards.
The training will provide research data users with tools and resources to ensure their data is easily accessible to others. Edwards hopes the workshop will improve collaboration among researchers and facilitate reproducibility in scientific research to enable the “R” in FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) data principles.
The workshop will focus on best practices for data organization, documentation and sharing.
Sessions will be led by Edwards and other U of G data experts, including Lucas Alcantara, manager, research centre data, who will provide attendees with hands-on training and guidance. Participants will be able to network with other researchers and learn about recent data management and sharing developments.
“The University of Guelph recognizes the importance of research data sharing and the potential for increased collaboration and innovation that it can bring,” said Dr. Malcolm Campbell, vice-president (research).
“By providing researchers with training on how to make their data reusable, we are empowering them to share their findings with the broader scientific community and leveraging our strengths and leadership in agri-food research to achieve global impact.”
The workshop is open to all U of G faculty, research technicians at Ontario’s agricultural research stations and centres, students and other research data users. Training sessions will occur both virtually and in person at the Ontario Dairy Research Centre at the Elora Research Station in Elora.
As space is limited, interested individuals are encouraged to register early.
Learn more and register for the workshop
