Joint Strategic Statement of Norwegian Life Science Research Infrastructures on Research Data Management
Creators: name: ELIXIR Norway
name: The National network of Advanced Proteomics Infrastructure
name: NOR-Openscreen
name: Norwegian Advanced Light Microscopy Imaging Network
name: Norwegian Molecular Imaging Infrastructure
name: Norwegian NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) Platform 2
name: NorSeq, The Norwegian Consortium for Sequencing
name: GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
name: DiSSCo Norway
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Strategic Statement
life science
research data management
data management

description: Joint Strategic Statement of Norwegian Life Science Research Infrastructures on Research Data Management
Preamble
Norwegian life science research infrastructures play a vital role in facilitating ground-breaking research by providing resources and services to researchers from academia, health care and industry. In 2020, BioMedData was established as a collaboration between eleven Norwegian life science infrastructures to promote FAIR data management. BioMedData is a research infrastructure funded by the Research Council of Norway until 2024. The project is coordinated by ELIXIR Norway and currently involves the original 11 partners and one additional infrastructure that joined after the beginning of the project.
As part of our commitment to advance life science research in Norway, we acknowledge the importance of a continued strategic collaboration in the area of research data management (RDM). Therefore, we aim to establish such a long-term collaboration between Norwegian life science infrastructures and promote professionalized and harmonized FAIR data management services towards the users of the partner infrastructures. This joint strategic statement aligns with the "Long-term plan for research and higher education 2023–2032".
Description of the Partners
ELIXIR Norway is a national node of the ELIXIR ESFRI landmark. The goal of ELIXIR is to enable the collection, quality control, archiving and analysis of biological data and to provide open access to data, computing resources, standards, training, and industry services. ELIXIR Norway is coordinated from the University of Bergen and comprises subnodes at the University of Oslo, the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, NTNU Trondheim and NMBU Ås. ELIXIR Norway provides joint services to all national users in life science research.
ELIXIR and ELIXIR Norway have recently concluded the major European projects ELIXIR-CONVERGE and EOSC-Life on data management, accessibility for effective collaboration and knowledge sharing in EOSC according to FAIR standards in the life science community and across ESFRI life science infrastructures.
The National network of Advanced Proteomics Infrastructure (NAPI) is a national technological and scientific infrastructure platform for proteomics. It provides advanced, mass spectrometry-based proteomics services for all Norwegian life science researchers with several hundred users yearly. NAPI is coordinated by the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oslo and has partners from Universities and University Hospitals in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Tromsø, and Ås. Partners include existing proteomics core facilities, and research groups with a strong focus on proteomics technology development.
NOR-Openscreen is the national node of EU-OPENSCREEEN ERIC and provides services and competence in the field of chemical biology, small molecule-based high throughput screening (including personalized medicine), and bioprospecting. The Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM) at the University of Oslo coordinates the national RI with partner nodes at The University of Bergen, The University of Tromsø, and SINTEF in Trondheim. NOR-Openscreen has a broad user spectrum including academic groups and industry collaborators on the national and European level.
The Norwegian Advanced Light Microscopy Imaging Network (NALMIN) is a nationwide scientific optical microscopy infrastructure network. We provide access to cutting-edge microscopy techniques, training and consultation on imaging acquisition and advanced image processing, and bi-annual international training workshops (NORMIC workshop series). Our nodes are in Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, and Tromsø. NALMIN fosters a national imaging scientist community and promotes regional and global knowledge exchange. NALMIN is also the trans-national node in the ESFRI infrastructure Euro-BioImaging ERIC.
The Norwegian Molecular Imaging Infrastructure (NORMOLIM) is a nationwide research infrastructure on the Norwegian roadmap for Research Infrastructure. NORMOLIM provides access to cutting-edge imaging technologies in the area of preclinical imaging (MRI, PET, ultrasound and in-vivo optical imaging), and also training and consultation on choice of imaging acquisition techniques and advanced image processing methods tailored to each user project. The NORMOLIM sites are at the universities of Trondheim (NTNU is the host institution), Oslo, Bergen, and Tromsø, NORMOLIM is also the trans-national node in the ESFRI infrastructure Euro-BioImaging ERIC.
The Norwegian NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) Platform 2 (NNP-2) is a nationwide research infrastructure on the Norwegian roadmap for Research Infrastructure. NNP-2 provides access to cutting-edge very-high field (600-850 MHz) NMR Spectroscopy technologies for a wide range of applications in Medicine, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Materials, and also training and consultation on choice of NMR acquisition techniques and advanced data processing methods tailored to each user project. The NNP-2 sites are at the universities of Trondheim (NTNU is the host institution), Oslo, Bergen, and Tromsø.
NorSeq, The Norwegian Consortium for Sequencing is the national research infrastructure for DNA/RNA sequencing. It comprises nodes in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Tromsø. Partner institutions include the universities and university hospitals in these cities. The infrastructure is on the roadmap of the Research Council Norway and is coordinated by the Oslo University Hospital.
GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is an international network and data infrastructure funded by the world's governments and aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth. GBIF Norway is the Norwegian participant node of GBIF and is funded by the RCN research infrastructure program to make primary data on biological diversity from the Norwegian collections and observation databases freely available in GBIF and to coordinate and support GBIF-related activities and data use in Norway. The GBIF Norway secretariat is hosted by the University of Oslo (UiO) in coordination with node partners at the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), University of Bergen (UiB), Arctic University of Norway (UiT), and Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).
DiSSCo Norway is the national node of the ESFRI Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo). DiSSCo is constructing one shared virtual research infrastructure for European natural history scientific collections including more than 170 institutions from 23 countries and more than 1,5 billion collection specimens under common access and curation policies and practices. DiSSCo Norway is coordinated from the University of Oslo Natural History Museum with node partners from the University of Bergen University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology University Museum, and the Arctic University Museum of Norway. DiSSCo Norway will mobilize and connect all Norwegian natural history collections in DiSSCo and provide access services in Norway to all the international collections in DiSSCo.
Principles
This joint strategic statement aims to stimulate mutually beneficial exchanges between Norwegian life science research infrastructures to promote research data management in Norway as the foundation for excellent, open and innovative science. We recognize the need to leverage efforts and complement expertise in areas that are of particular strength for each infrastructure and for the benefit of Norwegian investments in life science research. We agree to the following principles:

Professionalized and harmonized FAIR data management services: The Norwegian life science research infrastructures aim to provide professionalized and harmonized FAIR data management services towards the users of Partner infrastructures with FAIR (meta-)data delivery, guidance on RDM and support. The services will align with international community and industry standards. 
Knowledge sharing: The Norwegian life science research infrastructures will exchange knowledge on topics of management and operation, research data management, approach to national funding, and public and external affairs. The leadership of each infrastructure is committed to sharing knowledge with each other. The Norwegian life science research infrastructures will ensure information exchange across their respective subnodes and collaborate on organizing joint training for end-users.  
Strategic communication: The Norwegian life science research infrastructures will work towards alignment and identification of joint priority areas at the national level and aim to provide clear communication to stakeholders. 
The National and European research framework: The Norwegian life science research infrastructures will seek to identify areas for collaboration on mutually beneficial projects on research data management and reproducible analysis on the national and European level to support synergies and scientific collaboration.
Financial Responsibilities
For providing research data management services to users, national and European funding will continue to be sought through individual infrastructure applications, ideally with reference to the BioMedData network.  BioMedData will continue to provide a space for data steward community building and infrastructure for research data management best practices, recommendations, and planning within the ELIXIR Norway framework
Without external funding, each infrastructure will, in principle, participate with in-kind resources, unless specified otherwise.
General Terms
In the event that questions arise concerning the interpretation of this Statement, the Partners shall consult with each other and find a mutually acceptable solution. Each Partner may suggest at any time written modifications to the present Statement. The Statement shall enter into force when all Partners have signed it and shall remain valid for a period of five years. The Statement can be ended by Partners earlier and may be superseded, through a mutual decision.
 
Signed By:
The document is signed and approved by the heads of the Research Infrastructures (RIs).
Sushma Grellscheid, Head of ELIXIR Norway 
Tuula Anneli Nyman, Head of NAPI
Johannes Landskron, Head of NOR-openscreen
Harald Alfred Stenmark, Head of NALMIN
Olav Haraldseth, Head of NORMOLIM and NNP-2
Dag Erik Undlien, Head of NorSeq  
Dag Endresen, GBIF Node Manager for Norway
Hugo de Boer, Head of DiSSCo Norway