Plan Your Data Management
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Decide what your DMP needs to cover
Your DMP should follow the real project, not an abstract template. Begin with the project structure, funding requirements and the material types you have already identified.
Project & plan identity
Project title, lead, host unit, partners, funding programme, project dates, DMP owner, DMP version and last review date.
Data, materials & outputs
What will be created, collected, commissioned or reused; expected formats, physical carriers, scale, dependencies and master versions.
Roles & responsibilities
Who creates, documents, stores, backs up, controls access, approves sharing, deposits outputs and completes handover.
Storage, backup & access
Working locations, authoritative copies, backup routine, recovery, access groups, account ownership and security requirements.
Organisation & versioning
Folder structure, naming, version conventions, master files, working copies, export formats and change control.
Metadata, provenance & documentation
What information is needed to understand origin, creator, context, method, transformation, relationships, software and versions.
Rights, ethics & protection
Copyright, licences, consent, personal data, confidentiality, contracts, community or cultural protocols and restrictions.
Sharing, publication & reuse
What can be shared, with whom, when, under which licence, through which repository/platform and with what documentation.
Retention, preservation & disposal
What should remain after project end, what can be deleted, retention periods, preservation formats, repository/archive and handover.
Resources & costs
Storage, specialist software, digitisation, transcription, metadata work, repository fees, preservation, staff time and other data-management costs.
Record decisions that the team can actually follow
A useful first DMP can be short. The important thing is that it names responsibilities and turns assumptions into explicit decisions.
| Question | Minimum decision to record | Responsible / review point |
|---|---|---|
| What are we managing? | Material/data/output types, origin, formats, physical carriers, approximate quantity or expected growth. | Project lead + person closest to the material. |
| Where is active work stored? | Approved working location and location of the authoritative/master copy. | Data/documentation responsibility; review when infrastructure changes. |
| How is it backed up? | Backup location, frequency, responsibility and how recovery is checked. | Named owner; test before critical production/publication stages. |
| Who can access what? | Access groups, account ownership, restrictions and process for adding/removing people. | Project lead / system owner; review when staff or partners change. |
| How are files and versions organised? | Folder structure, file naming, version convention, master/working/derivative distinction. | Team-wide rule; review when workflows become unclear. |
| What documentation is required? | Minimum metadata, provenance, README/context documentation, technical dependencies and relationships. | Creator + documentation owner. |
| What is sensitive or restricted? | Personal/confidential/culturally sensitive material, consent status, legal or contractual restrictions and required protection. | Project lead with specialist advice where needed. |
| What rights apply? | Ownership, third-party material, licences, permissions and unresolved rights questions. | Project lead / rights responsibility; resolve before publication. |
| What will be shared or published? | Outputs/materials to share, access level, timing, licence, repository/platform and exceptions. | Project lead + output owner. |
| What happens at project end? | Keep, deposit, preserve, hand over or delete; final owner; access closure; retention period if applicable. | Named closure owner; confirm before final reporting. |
| When is the DMP reviewed? | Planned review dates plus event-based triggers. | DMP owner. |
Review the DMP when a decision actually changes
Do not update the plan only because a calendar reminder appears. Use scheduled reviews, but also connect reviews to concrete project events.
Proposal / award / project start
Align the working plan with the submitted proposal, funder requirements, approved budget, staffing, partners and actual infrastructure.
New material or method
Update the DMP when new datasets, media types, software, equipment, participants, collections or documentation workflows are introduced.
People or partner changes
Recheck access, account ownership, responsibilities, handover, agreements and where authoritative copies are held.
Before publication / exhibition / sharing
Confirm rights, consent, personal-data handling, metadata, file quality, access level, licence and repository/platform route.
Before project closure
Decide what is retained, deposited, preserved, deleted or transferred; close obsolete access and document final responsibilities.
Use the funder’s current template and deadlines where one is required
Your internal working DMP can be broader than a funder template, but a funded project must still satisfy the applicable programme rules. Always check the current call, grant agreement and funder guidance.
FWF
The FWF requires a Data Management Plan for projects approved under the relevant guidelines since 1 January 2019. The DMP is submitted with the funding agreement, is required for project start, should be maintained as a living document and the final version is submitted with the final project report.
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe projects that generate or reuse research data are expected to establish a detailed DMP; programme guidance normally places the first DMP deliverable at month 6, with updates as the project develops and towards project end.
Other funders / partners
Do not reuse an old DMP blindly. Check whether the current programme specifies a template, mandatory questions, repository expectations, open-access rules, review dates, eligible costs or reporting obligations.
A plan is useful only if it points to actual places, rules and people
Who to involve at the Angewandte
Use specialist support where the DMP reveals a real requirement. Not every project needs every service.