About the program
The Tartan Research Data Alliance is launching in Fall 2024 to create a community of practice around research data management. This program aims to foster good research data management and sharing practices across Carnegie Mellon University, connecting researchers with the support and services they need.
The Tartan Research Data Alliance brings together graduate students, post-docs, early career researchers, and research support staff interested in developing their research data skill sets and serving as data lifecycle liaisons to their departments and labs. As Tartan Research Data Fellows, participants in the program will learn about funder requirements, open science principles, and best practices in managing data across the research lifecycle while participating in a cohort that provides peer mentorship and community.
Benefits to Participation
Participating in the Tartan Research Data Alliance will give fellows the opportunity to develop mentorship networks, grow professional connections, build interdisciplinary communities, and develop marketable skills.
Commitment and Structure
Tartan Research Data Fellows serve a one to three year term. After attending an initial half day orientation introducing best practices in research data management across the data lifecycle, fellows are expected to attend three training sessions per year pertaining to data management and sharing in their discipline. Choosing from sessions focused on tools, methods, and mandates, fellows can select sessions that meet the needs of their own research. Fellows will also have a dedicated online community space for resource sharing and problem solving between meetings.
Fellows will also serve as a "data ambassadors" to campus collaborators, such as their lab or center, or to other graduate students in their department, serving as liaisons between the libraries and their group.
Outline of expectations:
Apply to participate in the first cohort of Tartan Research Data Fellows.
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Alfredo González-Espinoza (agonzal3@andrew.cmu.edu) or Emily Bongiovanni (ebongiov@andrew.cmu.edu) for questions or more information.
Q: Is this paid position?
A: No, this is not a paid position. This is a community building and training effort.
Q: What is the time commitment?
A: Each participant agrees to attend one kick-off meeting, one training session, and one community gathering per semester. The total commitment is approximately 4 hours per semester (approximately 8 hours per year).
Q: How are the training sessions and meet ups structured?
A: There will be a variety of training opportunities available. These training opportunities are open workshops offered by the CMU Libraries and not all workshops participants will be members of Tartan Research Data Alliance. There will be two meet-ups scheduled per semester for members of Tartan Research Data Alliance. These are casual coffee and conversation meet-ups.
Q: How will this program be useful for different types of data or research areas?
A: This program is flexible so participants select the training sessions that applies best to their needs or discipline. There are a variety of sessions for participants to select from, including tool-based sessions or sessions on general practices or skills.
Q: Is there a specific project I will be working on?
A: No, there is no specific project or research opportunity through this program. The purpose of this program is provide training so participants can take what they learn and apply to their own work or projects.
Q: What training sessions are available?
A: The training session options will be shared at the beginning of each semester. There are a variety of dates and times and formats (virtual or in-person). These sessions may include topics such as: Introduction to Open Science Framework Workshop; Organizing Research in the Cloud with LabArchives; Sharing FAIR Research Data.
