Why this case
UK universities and research institutes had a clear capacity problem around research data management: the FAIR principles were widely endorsed, the resources existed (RDMkit, FAIR Cookbook), but very few institutions had people on the ground with the time, mandate, or recognition to embed those resources locally. Researchers bounced between policy documents and isolated training events; data stewards existed in pockets but rarely as a named role with a peer network.
The ELIXIR-UK node identified this as a national-scale gap: not the lack of guidance, but the lack of practitioners and career paths. Without people, the existing materials sat unused and were difficult to digest. Without a network, the few data stewards in post worked alone and reinvented the wheel.
The DaSH project – ELIXIR-UK Data Stewardship Training – was set up to do something about that. It ran from 14 February 2021 to 30 June 2024, funded by UKRI Innovation Scholars: Data Science Training in Health and Bioscience (grant MR/V038966/1, £687,857). The Fellowship programme was its flagship deliverable, and the part that has now outlasted the original grant, embedding the Fellows into the ELIXIR-UK – several of them now co-leading different areas of the consortium.
What we did
The DaSH project bundled three coordinated streams: a Fellowship, a training creation pipeline, and key partnerships.
- The Fellowship. Recruited Data Steward Fellows from across UK research organisations – both ELIXIR-UK members and non-members – with a £3,000 honorarium per Fellow to recognise the time invested. The programme was originally scoped for 20 Fellows but grew to 24 Fellows across 17 organisations by the close of the grant. Each Fellow operated as an RDM and FAIR ambassador in their home institution.
- RDMbites. A pipeline of short (3–5 minute) educational videos produced by Fellows, covering both fundamental and specialist aspects of RDM. The format was deliberately bite-sized so it could be embedded in courses and shared on social channels.
- Coordination layer. A central team (1 Community Manager, 2 Trainers) kept the cohort connected through a Slack workspace, monthly troubleshooting sessions, community calls, and annual in-person retreats. All Fellows took the ELIXIR Train-the-Trainer course as a shared baseline.
- External alliances. The project worked with the Software Sustainability Institute (mentoring the community manager from their 10+ years running a Fellowship), and the Galaxy Training Network (existing training infrastructure to plug into).
The recognition piece – an “ELIXIR-UK Fellow” badge added to a Fellow’s profile and CV – was deliberately part of the design. Honorarium and badge together signalled that data stewardship is a professional contribution, not a side-of-desk activity on top of researchers’ or technicians’ workloads.
What changed
By the end of the funded period:
- 24 trained Fellows across 17 UK research organisations, many continuing in steward or steward-adjacent roles – now in leadership positions or having advocated for their organisations to join ELIXIR.
- A library of RDMbites videos in active use by trainers across ELIXIR and beyond, embedded in courses through the Galaxy Training Network and similar platforms.
- Local RDM training delivered at Fellows’ home institutions – direct reach into research groups.
What we’d tell others
What worked, and why
Funding people with a meaningful honorarium – not just events or materials – was a great move but it required a lot of admin burden. While useful for more junior Fellows, the most senior ones did not find a direct benefit. The badge of recognition and cohort gave Fellows something to stand on when negotiating internally for time and recognition. The Train-the-Trainer baseline plus monthly community calls meant Fellows weren’t isolated; they had a peer group to compare notes with. And bundling three things (people + materials + network) under one grant let each part reinforce the others.
What didn’t work, and how we adapted
Recruiting 20 Fellows was harder than expected – selection criteria especially. We leaned heavily on SSI’s experience, and that was key to our success. Word-of-mouth and existing ELIXIR-UK contacts mattered more than open calls alone. Materials production also took longer than scoped: short videos sound easy but require editing, hosting, and review pipelines that the team built up as they went. It also required a lot of support for idea creation – some structure is essential. An empty canvas with infinite options is often a burden for Fellows; the right balance is light scaffolding that gets them started.
Transferability and scaling potential
The pattern – fund Fellows with an honorarium, give them a baseline training course and a cohort, recognise them with a badge, expect outputs that go back to the community – is transferable to any national node or consortium with comparable convening power. Conditions: funding for time (not just events), at least one institution with the convening capacity to host a coordination team, and an existing body of training materials to build on (RDMkit, FAIR Cookbook in this case). Without those, the programme becomes cohort-without-content or content-without-cohort. Smaller-scale adaptations (institutional fellowships) are also viable and may be easier to fund.
Sustainability and next steps
The original UKRI grant ended in June 2024. Funders granted the project extra funding to produce additional pieces of work such as case studies, data management plan examples and templates, and training materials. Long-term funding for new cohorts is the open question; without renewed grant support, the programme cannot run on community goodwill alone – it needs dedicated FTE.
External resources
| Category | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| External | RDMkit | ELIXIR’s researcher-facing research-data-management resource. |
| External | FAIR Cookbook | Recipes for applying the FAIR principles in practice. |
| External | Software Sustainability Institute | UK national institute for research-software sustainability and community building. |
| External | Galaxy Training Network | Bioinformatics training resource hosting and disseminating community-built courses. |
| External | ELIXIR-UK Fellowship programme page | Current cohort, application process, Fellow profiles. |
| External | ELIXIR-UK DaSH project page | Original grant scope, partners, deliverables. |
| External | UKRI Innovation Scholars grant MR/V038966/1 | £687,857 · 14 Feb 2021 – 30 Jun 2024. |
Related pages
Xenia Perez Sitja
Earlham Institute, ELIXIR-UK