The first "train the trainers" workshop on the RDM Expert Tour Guide took place on the 12 and 13 April in Ljubljana, organised by the local CESSDA Service Provider ADP. It trained trainers on how to use the guide as a base for introducing researchers to the various activities of research data management.

The workshop primarily targeted employees of CESSDA Service Providers and CESSDA partnering organisations, as well as employees of affiliated organisations and research institutions, tasked with providing training on research data management to the social science research community, or planning to deliver such a training in the future.

The workshop was organised in eight sessions and followed the structure of the Expert Tour Guide, introducing RDM planning, data organisation, documentation and processing, data storage as well as legal issues and data archiving. Moreover, it focused on training methods and training materials developed by the CESSDA Training Group to improve trainings on research data management.

The event was highly interactive with time dedicated to discussions and sharing experiences. It improved trainers’ skills on how to best design and deliver training. It also helped members of the CESSDA Training Group to see how to improve the Expert Tour Guide in the future.

In total 17 participants from various European countries joined the workshop, affiliated to CESSDA Service Providers, such as AUSSDA, DANS, GESIS or SND as well as partner organisations and other institutes outside of CESSDA, e.g. the Rudjer Boskovic Institute and the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, the Dublin City University, Uni Data of University Bicocca, the University of Oslo and the Institute of Social Sciences University of Lisbon.

According to received feedback from participants, the event was helpful and overall, participants were very satisfied with the workshop. They thought that the content of each session was “quite good” and were pleased with the flow of the workshop. At the end of the workshop, they felt that they knew which tools to use for data management, where to find information and how to use the Expert Tour Guide. They also felt confident about providing training in the near future.

Some of the suggestions made for improving the Expert Tour Guide and for further training materials were: more tips and practical examples, group activities, more content on GDPR and legal issues, as well as on training methods.

For further information have a look at the Expert Tour Guide on Data Management.

Photo credits: ADP