Databases in Quantum Chemistry

Last week I attended the workshop "Databases in Quantum Chemistry: Validation of methods and software, and repositories of reference computational results" taking place at the ZCAM in Zaragoza.

"The workshop is devoted to address the issues related to databasing in Quantum Chemistry. A number of international experts has been invited to discuss the more relevant points in a flexible set up, with the objective of reaching a consensus view about the degree of necessity of organized repositories of high-level quantum chemical data, as well as the technical problems associated to their design, construction and maintenance"

The workshop started with talks dealing with the needs in quantum chemistry. Although the disussions seemed to indicate that these were many and diverse, there was a general agreement that calculations at the time of publication could benefit from a space to be shared openly.

The following talks described current initiatives and experiences. My presentation "Implementing data repository services: issues and lessons learned from case studies" aimed to share some of the experiences from projects like EIDCSR or Sudamih.

Peter Murray-Rust has nicely described the workshop on a blog post. The main outcome is the set-up of the Quixote Project and the aim of having a prototype repository in one month. Very exciting!

Digital Curation Centre Workshop at Oxford on the 16th June, 2010 – How to Manage Research Data

I am very pleased to announce that the Digital Curation Centre will be paying a visit to Oxford on the 16th June to present a workshop on managing research data. The workshop is aimed primarily at researchers interested in bidding for funding for projects with a data output, although it should also appeal to those who assist and support research activities and who would like to find out more about the challenges of data curation.

Although the workshop will obviously be of relevance to those interested in either the Sudamih or EIDCSR projects, it will not focus exclusively on a particular academic discipline but should be useful across the board. Sessions will include: the roles and responsibilities associated with conceptualising, creating and managing research data during the life of a project; the responsibilities associated with the longer-term management of research data after a project has ended; developing a data management plan; and preparing data for long-term curation and re-use.

The workshop is free for members of the University of Oxford, £50 for non-members.

Anyone interested in attending the workshop should register at http://www.dcc.ac.uk/training/digital-curation-101/digital-curation-101-lite-oxford

First EIDCSR workshop and executive board meeting

Yesterday was a busy day for the EIDCSR Project.

In the morning, the first project event took place at Rewley House in Oxford with an exciting group of speakers brought together under the theme of "Data curation: from lab to reuse". Their presentations are now available on the project website and a report will be produced shortly.

The afternoon served to held the first EIDCSR Executive Board meeting where progress and next steps for the project

were discussed with the extraordinary helpful and encouraging members of the board.

Overall, a great day providing loads of food for thought.

EIDCSR workshop on 14 October

The first EIDCSR project workshop is taking place on 14 October, more details below:

Date and location

14 October at Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA

The event will start at 10.30 and will finish with lunch at 13.00

Description

This workshop is organized as part of the dissemination activities of the JISC-funded EIDCSR Project. The aim of the workshop is to hear about proven practice in selected data management areas identified as challenging for researchers through the EIDCSR audit and requirements analysis exercise. Whilst the EIDCSR Project is addressing the requirements of researchers working within medical and life sciences, the event is likely to be of interest to those working in, or supporting, other disciplinary areas.

The expected audience includes researchers who generate data in labs and computing simulations and staff from service units with an interest in research data management and curation issues.

Outcomes

Participants in the workshop will have the opportunity to learn about, and contribute to discussion of, the different approaches to the ensuring the flow of data between laboratory and in silico experimentation. In particular, the workshop will discuss:

* methods for the capture, storage and reuse of metadata in the laboratory;

* lifecycles integrating wet lab and in silico experimental data;

* for delivery and visualisation of large-scale data.

Programme

Some of the speakers will include:

Alan Garny, Oxford Department of Physiology Anatomy and Genetics - Alan will discuss his research group data management workflow and challenges.

Brian Brooks, Unilever Cambridge Centre for Molecular Informatics - Brian will talk about their Chemical Laboratory Repository In/Organic Notebooks (CLARION) Project.

Angus Whyte, Digital Curation Centre - Angus will share the experiences from the DCC SCARP Project on data management best practice.

Booking

To book a place please email eidcsr@oucs.ox.ac.uk