The UG Digital Competence Centre (UG DCC) receives two NWO grants to enhance its services

The University of Groningen's Digital Competence Centre (UG DCC) has recently received fantastic news that two project proposals submitted earlier this year have been awarded funding by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). These grants will help to further strengthen data stewardship at the UG and respond to an increasing demand among researchers for expertise in the area of research software engineering.

Strengthening data stewardship and research software engineering

The first project allows the DCC to expand its team by hiring a data steward and a research software engineer. This will firstly help organize research data management support in collaboration with UG faculties that do not yet have an embedded data steward. Secondly, the grant allows the DCC to facilitate the use and development of research software by UG researchers from different disciplines. Research software increasingly plays an important role in academic research and is often even the key output. With this extra capacity, the DCC aims to create sustainable and innovative services in research software engineering over the next two years. This includes expanding current support and activities to assist researchers in managing and utilizing their research software effectively.

Collaboration with the Thematic Digital Competence Centre (TDCC-NES)

The DCC will also take the lead in a collaborative bottleneck project of the national Thematic Digital Competence Center for Natural & Engineering Sciences (TDCC-NES). Its goal is to establish sustainable research software practices across the national landscape by coming up with recommendations for ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of research software. The project hereby recognizes that the maintenance of research software is crucial for the continuity of scientific endeavors. Furthermore, the UG DCC will collaborate on another TDCC-NES project, dedicated to 'Enabling Best Practices for Sustainable Software in the Natural & Engineering Sciences'.

The DCC is excited to embark on these new projects and looks forward to contributing to the advancement of research data management and research software engineering for the benefit of all researchers and their ongoing endeavors. Stay tuned for more updates on the exciting developments at the UG DCC!