From Competition to Collaboration: A National Model for Sustainable and Interoperable Research Data Repositories
- 2025-09-17 10:45
- 11:15
- Room: 81/R-003A - Science Gateway Auditorium A
- Speaker:
- Agnieszka Cybulska-Phelan, , Agnieszka Cybulska-Phelan - open research data specialist at Open Science Platform team, Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling (ICM), University of Warsaw. Carries out educational and training activities on RDM and OS. Responsible for the day-to-day operations of research data repositories. Graduate of the Data Steward postgraduate program at the University of Vienna. , University of Warsaw, https://en.uw.edu.pl/, Poland
- , Jakub Szprot - Head of the Open Science Platform at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling (ICM), University of Warsaw. He oversees nationwide IT services that provide open access to scientific literature and data. He’s also responsible for policy advocacy and supervises various training and educational activities in open science and research data management. He has participated in numerous European and Polish projects concerning research infrastructures, open access, research data management, and digital humanities. He co-authored and edited reports on different aspects of open science. He has been a member of committees and expert groups of UNESCO, the European Commission, and the Polish Ministries of Science and Higher Education and Education and Science. As a DARIAH-PL National Coordinator, he developed digital research infrastructure for the arts and humanities on both the national and European levels. , University of Warsaw, https://en.uw.edu.pl/, Poland
This presentation explores a collaborative national network of research data repositories in Poland, where institutional, disciplinary, and generalist infrastructures coexist rather than compete. The model offers a practical example of how interoperability and central coordination can support researchers and institutions in selecting the most appropriate repository type—without duplicating efforts or fragmenting services.
Drawing on a growing ecosystem currently comprising four main repositories (including a generalist platform hosting over 50 institutional dataverses), the presentation demonstrates how this architecture helps address key challenges in the research data landscape:
- ensuring long-term sustainability (technical, operational, and financial),
- alleviating staffing shortages,
- and motivating researchers to share their data.
The model relies on shared infrastructure, harmonized metadata exchange, and cross-repository visibility, enabling researchers to deposit data in the repository best suited to their needs—while benefiting from aggregated institutional presence and increased discoverability.
By presenting this approach, we aim to share insights into a scalable, community-driven strategy that reduces overheads, strengthens national coordination, and enhances the openness of research data practices. By highlighting a collaborative infrastructure model, this presentation contributes to the broader conversation on how we can reimagine openness through shared responsibility, inclusive governance, and sustainable practices.