News from the Executive Board 2022 / 6

New rules for how to handle research data

Outstanding cutting-edge research depends on new and innovative scientific findings that are also reliable and transparent. That is why data that is collected in a smart way, processed correctly, documented accurately, archived securely, verifiable at all times and available for long-term use in the future is crucial for scientific research. This makes professional research data management a key factor for excellent basic research as well as an integral component of good scientific practice. Researchers working in the same field or with the same methods develop common standards for research data management or use established community standards and come to an agreement as to how to make their research reproducible and their research data reusable.

Research data management encompasses all phases of data handling: collecting, archiving, documenting, evaluating, selecting, processing, analysing, interpreting and publishing as well as access and preservation. It covers different data types and formats such as text, codes, graphs, table data and audiovisual materials. It also addresses the legal and ethical aspects of various technical capabilities (confidentiality, protection of data and personality rights, intellectual property rights and security).

In recent months, the Open Science working group – with the active involvement of the ETH research community – has revised the guidelines for research data management at ETH Zurich and systematically linked them with the Integrity Guidelines (see Integrity Guidelines (art. 1, 10, 11) for the handling of research data and materials). The working group is drawn from different ETH divisions, among them the Research Commission, ETH Library and IT Services.

In June, the ETH Executive Board has now approved the renewed guidelines for research data management and put them into effect on 1 July 2022. The next steps will now be to communicate and disseminate them at ETH.

Risk management: Financial insecurity intensifies

In June, the ETH Executive Board conducted its routine assessment of the current risk situation at ETH Zurich. One year ago, the Executive Board and the Risk Management Commission (RMK) already assessed Switzerland’s non-association with Horizon Europe as a new core risk, and gave more weight to infrastructure risks and crisis events than in previous years (see News from the Executive Board 2021 / 4). These core risks have intensified over the past year, threatening ETH Zurich’s organisational goals.

In July 2021, Horizon Europe and other related programmes and initiatives stopped treating Switzerland as a fully associated country, demoting it to the status of a non-​​associated third country. If Switzerland’s non-association with external page the world’s biggest research and innovation funding programme were to persist in the medium to long term, ETH would, as a consequence, face severe risks – such as loss of reputation, the breakdown of research networks, difficulties in recruiting world-class scientists, loss of talent or lack of access to important research fields. While there are external page Swiss transitional measures for Horizon Europe direct funding, such as the Advanced Grants awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), direct access to international research collaborations is critical for a global top-flight university. Purely financial compensation measures are not an adequate substitute for ETH’s full participation in Horizon Europe.

As recent years have shown, different crises can occur in immediate succession or indeed overlap. The effects of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic are still felt in the way ETH operates today. Since late February 2022, these have been accompanied by the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting conflict. This has created a host of challenges regarding solidarity with Ukraine and in dealing with Russian partnerships or potential sanctions. Due to the seamless transition from one crisis to the next, the Executive Board and the RMK have again attached a lot of weight to the core risk of “crisis events and global developments” and added further scenarios.

Additionally, the RMK is now keeping a closer eye on further developments. Inflation directly influences a range of risks, in particular those related to infrastructure and procurement. It is still too early to say definitively what the effects will be. It is apparent, however, that less can be purchased with the current budget, and that certain construction projects will be delayed as a result of higher prices. Due to the rise in cyberattacks, including on universities, the Executive Board and the RMK also assess cyber risks, especially ransomware attacks, as high. In addition to existing measures, which every member of the ETH community can support, the Chief Information Security Officer is currently spearheading a review of how ETH Zurich’s security dispositif can be optimised for such attacks.

What’s more, the risks mentioned above influence each other. The resulting costs exacerbate ETH Zurich’s financial insecurity.

For more information about risk management, visit the relevant web page or consult the 2021 annual report (Governance and Sustainability).