What we do
Read more about the different parts of SND’s operations here. If you have any specific questions, please get in touch with the contact for each area.
National support to research data functions
SND has a strategic mission to create possibilities for researchers to describe, share, and reuse research data. We do this in a number of different ways, but mainly in providing Swedish higher education institutions and other researching organisations with support in their efforts to establish and maintain local functions for research data support.
Organisations in the SND Network have access to support such as advice, training materials, and tools for research data management. We also create opportunities for knowledge exchange by arranging frequent events on different themes, often together with members of the SND Network.
Development of tools and services
In order to respond to current needs, we develop tools and services that facilitate the management, sharing, and reuse of research data. SND provides a national catalogue for research data. In the catalogue you can search and find research data and research data descriptions from various scientific fields.
Our digital system DORIS can be used to describe and share research data through the SND research data catalogue. This system is constructed to make the work easier for users who want to share data, but also for the staff in research data support functions who review data descriptions. In order to enable sharing of data that contain sensitive information, we, in collaboration with SUNET, have developed a cloud-based storage solution that guarantees that data can be securely stored and shared in the SND catalogue without ever leaving their respective HEIs.
SND is also involved in several international projects that develop services for improved access to international research data.
Training and information
A big part of what SND does is to provide training and information. On our website, we offer digital training materials for researchers as well as for staff in research data support functions. Our pages on data management contain a wealth of information that can be of assistance during the entire research process. These pages address aspects such as documentation, secure storage, and what to think about when you want to share data. We also provide guides for data management plans, persistent file formats, and best practices for managing different types of data. As a researcher, you can contact any of our Research Data Advisors or Domain Specialists if you have questions about managing your research data.
SND offers various training and development activities for the research data support functions in the HEIs, for instance through the online training BAS Online, and the commissioned course Forskningsdata: tillgänglighet, hantering och samverkan (Research Data: Access, Management, and Collaboration). We have also compiled a handbook in wiki format, a resource that collects useful information about establishing and running a research data support function. As part of the training activities, SND also hosts various events connected to research data and data management.
Collaborations and networks
SND collaborates with many organisations that strive for improved access to research data on a national and international level. The national collaborations are mainly in connection to the SND Network, where SND is the node and provides different types of collaboration options through tools, communication platforms, discussion groups, and events.
On the international scene we collaborate with several organisations, such as CESSDA, DataCite, European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), ICPSR, Research Data Alliance (RDA), and World Data System. SND also has an active presence in several international development projects. These projects are an important part of SND’s collaboration with other infrastructures and scientific environments.