The coordinating body of a collaborative project approached the Service Center Research Data and asked for support in developing a data management concept. The project had just started and we had extensive individual meetings regarding all subprojects.

The meetings revealed that the individual researchers already had a good grip on data management within their subproject - but that there had been little information flow between the subprojects to date. The crucial questions during our meetings were the following:

• "What data do you need from your project partners?"
• "What data do the other project partners expect from you?"
• "In what format does the data need to be provided?"
• "When do you need that data at the latest?"

It takes some time to hold these meetings- but the benefits for the project are enormous! It turned out that at the time of our meetings, no one had yet asked the researchers these questions. The project was now running for a few months and shortly after the first researchers would have expected data to be provided, but the designated "data provider" was not even aware of that.

Working with the researchers, we identified several potential obstacles in the project schedule and brought the relevant tandems of the data provider and data recipient into conversation with each other.

Have you ever been faced with the challenge of coordinating the data management of a project with several partners?

You are very welcome to get in touch with us. Please feel free to send an e-mail to the Service Center Research Data or book an appointment.