T L @FAIRsFAIR_eu www.fairsfair.eu /company/fairsfair Essential on Research Data Management MOOC Use case: collaboration among national and institution actors to support the uptake of RDM and FAIR data skills Type of initiative: Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Organiser of the initiative: Lead by the University of Minho and commissioned by the General Secretariat for Education and Science from the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education uminho.pt Scope and objectives The Essentials on Research Data Management MOOC is a 30-hour online course with six modules aimed at training doctoral candidates in the fundamentals of RDM practices, including writing Data Management Plans (DMPs), applying the FAIR data principles, identifying the right tools and the legal issues involved in sharing research data. The course is made available to all Portuguese higher education institutions in the online platform “NAU”. While developed by the University of Minho, the initiative to create the RDM MOOC came from the Secretariat of State of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. Developing a MOOC focused on addressing RDM practices was seen as a way to feed into two different policy initiatives that the Ministry was working on at the time (2016-2018). First, the MOOC could provide support to the implementation at the institutional level of the objectives of the emerging national Open Science Strategy. Second, the MOOC could be integrated within the broader national strategy in support of the uptake of digital skills. With regards to this second aspect, respondents from the University of Minho highlighted the importance of linking the promotion of RDM and FAIR data skills and practices with other priorities in the agenda of national governments. This can be instrumental not only in finding additional financial and capacity resources for teaching those skills, but also in identifying new motivations and drivers to support their implementation. The University of Minho agreed to develop the content of the RDM MOOC, recognising the potential that this could have in addressing internal institutional priorities on promoting Open Science skills and practices and in contributing to the objectives of the national strategies. At the national level, UMinho was also actively engaged in the Working Group (WG) responsible for defining the roadmap of the National Open Science Policy and developing new opportun¬ities for training in data-related skills was among the recommendations identified by the WG. In addition, respondents underlined that a third driver for their engagement in the RDM MOOC was to be identified with the decision of Portugal’s major national funder, the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), to update its policy data sharing and management, recommending the implementation of new training activities related to research data at the institutional level. The University of Minho Documentation and Libraries Service (UMinho) developed an Open Online Course (MOOC) in Research Data Management Massive in 2019 commissioned by the General Secretariat for Education and Science from the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. The course is open to doctoral candidates and other researchers from all Portuguese higher education institutions who are interested in acquiring a basic understanding and knowledge of practices related to RDM and FAIR data. The case study shows the added value and mutual benefits of national and institutional-level actors working together to promote and support the uptake of RDM and FAIR data skills. The initiative to create the MOOC came from the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education, who via the General Secretariat for Education and Science collaborated with the University of Minho to develop the content and implement the course in a new online platform aimed at fostering digital skills in Portugal. From the university’s perspective, the objecti