Supporting integration and uptake of Materials 4.0 in UK Research and Innovation
Royce provides a dedicated Data Curation team to support colleagues across the materials innovation community in adopting robust research data management practices. Our team can support those working across Royce’s programmes in retaining research knowledge and expertise, ensuring data provenance, internally and externally, and in managing the research data lifecycle from conception and planning to project conclusion and impact tracking.
The Data Curation team provide an in-house and bespoke service for Materials Science at Royce to expand and improve the Institute’s open research practices. These services include the creation of materials data indexing systems, support for research data management and training events in digital skills complementary to reproducibility and conducting open research.
Providing this devoted Data Curation resources for programmes supported across the Royce partnership reflects our commitment to playing a leading and coordinating role in the integration of Materials 4.0. We hope to promote wider systems changes for the benefit of the broader Materials Science community and raise awareness of expected standards and behaviours.
Open Research and Materials 4.0
Royce is committed to support new data-centric, digital approaches to secure a Materials 4.0 future that positively impacts society and the economy. Through a series of roadmapping reports commissioned by Royce, the rate and response of materials science innovation was found to be hindered by poor levels of data sharing between parties.
Typically, experimental data generated by organisations is not freely available for others to use. As such, individual organisations must generate their own experimental results, which may cause progress delays and failures.
In the hopes of fostering transparency, openness, verification and reproducibility of research, many funding calls designed to support research projects stipulate open research policies as necessary for eligibility.
Open research, also known as open science, supports the ideas that research should be as accessible, transparent, verifiable and reproducible as possible. It relates to the practice of how research is executed and how resulting knowledge is shared, exploiting digital technologies to support and uphold its goals throughout the research and innovation lifecycle.
Our services
To support open research in Materials 4.0, the Royce Data Curation team provide a number of services to assist researchers in adopting open data practices:
Direct Support
Currently, our services are only available to researchers and staff affiliated with Royce partners and associated partners. If you are directly involved with Royce at one of our partners in some capacity, you may benefit from our services if the Royce-based collaborated has sought the Data Curation Team services.
For institutions outside the Royce partnership seeking Data Management and Open Research training, please send an enquiry to training@royce.ac.uk and we can discuss your request.
We recommend that you take a look at our Handbook for general guides for Open Research and Data Management in Materials Science for more information.
Events & Training
The Henry Royce Institute offers a diverse range of events year-round, designed to engage various communities in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. Our goal is to increase awareness, inspire younger generations and support our growing Royce community.
- Historical events by the Data Curation Team
Royce Data Handbook
In the Royce Data Handbook, you can learn about research data management and open research practices for a Materials Science audience and explore how to implement open research in Materials.
Ampletracks: Sample Management Software
Managing research data is a critical issue across all scientific disciplines. Untracked samples and fragmented research workflows can hinder progress, leading to a waste of resources and data loss.
Ampletracks is a web application for sample tracking and data management, designed to be integrated into a laboratory-based workflow. Ampletracks allows users to track samples as well as index and link associated data through a relational data model.
Ampletracks has several features that ensure its seamless integration into experimental workflows. For example, users can add samples, attach QR codes, index datasets and create relationships. The addition of Ampletracks to your experimental toolbox will provide more collaboration opportunities and facilitate knowledge retention.
