Published on the Research Data Management Core (RDMC) site on September 24, 2024
In 2023, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research established the Research Data Management Core (RDMC) to support and enhance the value of UNC’s research data assets. RDMC was designed to be adaptable and responsive to the needs of the UNC research community, while proactively addressing data management and sharing mandates established by funding agencies. As a result, RDMC developed a more unified research data infrastructure, integrating services and technology to assist investigators in complying with both sponsor and University data management and sharing requirements.
To meet these requirements, a new data management fee model was initially implemented across most funded research projects, regardless of the sponsor. In March 2024, following campus feedback and evolving sponsor requirements, this approach was discontinued, enabling RDMC to explore a new model for supporting its services.
Today, RDMC is excited to announce an updated service model that considers sponsor policies, community feedback, and UNC’s data management service and infrastructure requirements. This new model directly benefits individual projects by providing essential support for a basic service fee, which will be included in proposal budgets. RDMC will also offer a variety of advanced “à la carte” data management services that projects can choose to include in their proposals, tailoring support to their specific needs.
Beginning October 1, 2024, all proposals may include budgeting for the new RDMC basic service model outlined below. All proposals, categorized as Organized Research or Clinical Trials, submitted on or after November 1, 2024, must incorporate the new data management and service “basic” fee in their proposal budgets
RDMC Basic Data Management Fee
The flat monthly fee covers the cost of basic data management services required to support compliance with both sponsor and UNC data management and sharing mandates. A formal University policy on compliance with research data assets and management is forthcoming.
- $75 per month per project (i.e., a two-year award budgets $1800 total for the RDMC basic fee).
- Applicable for all sponsors.
- Applicable only to projects classified as Organized Research or Clinical Trials (previously identified as those required to comply with University data management and sharing requirements).
- Applicable to proposals submitted after Nov 1 2024 (details on award billing processes forthcoming).
- Projects with annual award amounts of less than $50,000 are exempt from the RDMC basic fee.
- Projects with annual award amounts between $50,000 – $75,000 receive a 50% waiver/subsidy (i.e. a two-year award budgets $900 total for the RDMC basic fee).
- Central sources will subsize any waivers of the RDMC basic fee.
What the Basic Fee Covers
- Essential data management support to ensure adherence to sponsor and UNC data management and sharing requirements.
- 2 TB per project in the UNC Dataverse data repository, which provides long-term preservation of and access to dataset files and associated research materials.
- At time of award, basic guidance and consultation on data management and sharing standards and best practices that are specific to the project data types.
- Project data registration in UNC Dataverse as part of an institutional catalog of available datasets. This includes a searchable index and description of data products deposited in other approved repositories specified in data management and sharing plans.
- Ongoing review, monitoring, and support of data management and sharing activities throughout the project period to confirm that project data are shared and uphold FAIR principles for findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable data.
- Long-term archival preservation of project data according to retention schedule requirements that may extend beyond the end of the award period.
Optional “a la Carte” add-on services
The basic fee covers the essential requirements for compliance with most data management and sharing policies. However, many projects may need or prefer additional services beyond what the basic fee includes. To support these advanced data management needs, RDMC will offer add-on services billed at hourly re-charge rates, which will be evaluated periodically during rate reviews. Preliminary rates for each service are listed below and always reference the RDMC website for current rates when budgeting.
- Large-Scale Data Archiving for datasets larger than 2 TB (includes assistance with ingest of files into UNC Dataverse): $130.78 per hour plus archival storage costs
- Sensitive Data Repository Management: $129.07 per hour plus archival storage costs
- Advanced Data Management and Curation: $124.32 per hour
- Sensitive Data De-identification: $120.18 per hour
- More information about these services, fees, budgeting and billing guidance will be available soon on the RDMC website at https://researchdata.unc.edu/.
The new service model represents a significant advancement in addressing the data management and sharing requirements of sponsors and the University. RDMC is eager to work with UNC investigators to maximize the impact of their research by ensuring data outputs are accessible to both the scientific community and the individuals who benefit from UNC’s research. Importantly, RDMC aims to achieve its mission while safeguarding UNC’s research data assets.