Data Management Plan

A Data Management Plan (DMP) helps you to structure, describe and store your research data in a meaningful way and to make it usable for others. More and more research funders require a DMP, including the SNSF or the ERC.

Writing a data management plan requires work. However, it pays off because in the long run, a DMP will bring you:

•  Higher work efficiency
•  Overview of your own data output
• Awareness of copyright issues

A Data Management Plan describes how data is created, processed, secured and finally archived and shared in a project, i.e. how your data is managed throughout the data life cycle. In principle, anyone and everyone can set up an individual DMP.

Many research funders require a DMP according to their specifications when submitting projects. At the SNSF, DMPs only have to be entered for approved projects since April 2023. However, make sure that you already apply for the additional financial resources for data management when entering the project.

More on the SNSF's requirements

Find out how to write a DMP in our tutorial:

Writing a data management plan