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Research Data Management

Recommendations and resources for managing qualitative and quantitative data collected or created in the research process.

Overview of Tri-Agency RDM Policy

The Tri-Agency consists of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

The Tri-Agency has created a Research Data Management Policy that has three main components.

  1. Data management plans (DMPs) for researchers (piloting): By spring, 2022, the agencies will identify the initial set of funding opportunities that will require a DMP for their applications. The agencies will pilot the DMP requirement in targeted funding opportunities before this date.
  2. Institutional strategies for institutions (launched): By March 1, 2023, research institutions subject to this requirement must post their research data management strategies and notify the agencies when they have been completed.
  3. Data deposit for researchers (pending): After reviewing the institutional strategies and in line with the readiness of the Canadian research community, the agencies will phase in the deposit requirement that requires researchers to share their data "where ethical, cultural, legal and commercial requirements allow". The deposit must be made by time of publication. 

 

Updates

Funding opportunities requiring data management plans

The Tri-Agency Research Data Management (RDM) Policy requires that applicants to certain Tri-Agency funding opportunities submit data management plans (DMPs) with their applications. The Tri-Agency includes the three federal research funding agencies — the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The list below identifies funding opportunities that require DMPs. For recurring funding opportunities, the date refers to the competition when the DMP requirement was introduced. Additional funding opportunities may pilot DMPs and be added to this list in the future.

CIHR

  • Network Grants in Skin Health, Bone Health and Muscular Dystrophy (October 2022)
  • Team Grants: Strengthening the Health Workforce for System Transformation (June 2023)
    Note: Formerly "Virtual Care/Digital Health Team Grants"
  • Team Grants: Lung Health (July 2023)
  • Operating Grant: Clinical Trials Projects (July 2023)
  • Team Grants: Improving Health and Administrative Data and Monitoring for Rare Diseases (August 2023)
  • Infectious and Congenital Syphilis in Canada: Implementation and Intervention Research Response (September 2023)
  • Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (September 2023)
  • Team Grants: Embracing Diversity to Achieve Precision and Health Equity (November 2023)

Planned:

  • Team Grants: HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections Community-Based Research (date to be determined)
  • Directed Grant: Canadian Immunization Network Renewal (date to be determined)

NSERC

  • Subatomic Physics Discovery Grants - Individual and Project (November 2023)

Planned:

  • Alliance Society (early 2025)

SSHRC

  • Partnership Grants Stage 2 (October 2023)

Please note: Pre-existing CIHR Deposit Requirements Remain
CIHR-funded researchers still have to comply with the deposit requirement in the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications, (Since Jan 2009), which requires that CIHR-funded researchers: 

  1. deposit bioinformatics, atomic, and molecular co-ordinate data into an appropriate public database immediately upon publication of results, and 
  2. retain all data sets associated with a given grant for a minimum of five years.