Accelerating Open Science in Latvia: A Case Study from Rīga Stradiņš University’s Participation in a National Data Steward Network

Description

As a part of the national project “Support for Practical Implementation of Open Science and Solutions for Research Data Sharing and Participation in the EU Open Science Cloud,” a Data Steward Network of Latvia was established in 2024. This initiative represented a major milestone in advancing Open Science (OS) practices across research universities and establishing data stewardship as a recognized profession in Latvia thereby accelerating the implementation of FAIR and OS practices, infrastructure and coordinated support on a national and institutional level.
Acknowledging the importance of research data management (RDM), in 2021 the first data steward in the country started work at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU). On September 2024, a data steward unit at RSU was established in order to provide structured RDM support across the full research data lifecycle. So far, the unit has conducted more than 300 consultations, hosted seminars and practical workshops for researchers as well as developed institutional guidelines, including an RDM Procedure, Informed Consent and DMP template, guidelines for the processing and storage of special category data​, user instructions for RDM systems and RSU’s institutional repository – Dataverse.
The number of datasets deposited in RSU Dataverse has increased significantly, rising from 11 a year to 34, with over 60 DMPs created and reviewed. Dataset deposits are indexed in RSU’s research information system (PURE). Notable improvements in the dataset and DMP quality have already been observed.
In addition, RSU data stewards actively contribute to national working groups, co-developing shared guidelines while enhancing their expertise through RDM and Open Science training, including an intensive training with DCC.

Period	8 Sept 2025 → 9 Sept 2025
Event title	Open Science Festival '25
Event type	Conference
Location	Vienna, AustriaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International