ESRC Research Centres

ESRC Research Centres may oversee and manage many different types of data at different stages of the research process and the data lifecycle. To help co-ordinate your Centre's data management and future data submissions, you can use our data inventory template.

Just as is the case for all ESRC awards, prior to depositing research data with ESDS, data should be prepared in such a way as to enable re-use by other researchers. Data and documentation from your research should be prepared according to best practice guidelines on how to manage and share data.

It is vital that all consent and confidentiality concerns that may inhibit archiving data should be considered early on, ideally before ethics approval and before the start of fieldwork. Even confidential data can be successfully shared if attention is paid to consent procedures, anonymisation and data access regulations.

We strongly recommend that sufficient time is allowed at the end of a project for preparing the data collection for submission, and especially before the lead researchers move onto their next research project.

If you would like to discuss any of these issues further or would like us to visit your Research Centre to discuss data managing and archiving issues in detail, contact the Research Data Management Support Services team at acquisitions@esds.ac.uk or telephone: +44 (0)1206 872974.

ESDS also runs a programme of training workshops covering managing and sharing research data, including events specifically for large-scale ESRC investments.