The FAQ consists of questions that your colleagues have previously asked in connection with the processing of personal data in research projects. New questions and answers will continuously be added to the FAQ. Please contact SDU RIO if you did not find the answer.
The preparation of a Data Management Plan is part of the Open Science Policy, which SDU adopted in March 2018. The purpose of the preparation of a Data Management Plan is to make it easier to collect, structure, store, describe and possibly share data. If you need help with the preparation of Data Management Plans as well as the general handling of research data, please contact RDM (Research Data Management) support.
No. Open Science is two different codes of practice with certain overlaps. Please contact RDM support if in doubt.
As a general rule, you may only use SDU-approved systems. SDU recommends that you use SharePoint, Nextcloud, Onedrive, S4 or Ucloud. If you have to use other systems for processing personal data, please contact RDM Support where SDU RIO and SDU IT will help you.
When it comes to a new project, a new notification must be made to SDU RIO. After that, you have to request a transfer of data.
It is important that you consider what to do with your research data when you have finished using them. What to do depends to a large extent on what you have written in your Data Management Plan, in the notification of your research project to SDU RIO and what you have promised the data subjects. You may need to move or anonymise data or transfer them to the Danish National Archives. You do not necessarily have to delete them. Always contact SDU RIO if in doubt.
As a general rule, delete them. If you want to know more about the possibility of retaining data (e.g. at the Danish National Archives), please contact SDU RIO. Please pay attention as to whether some data are subject to an obligation to keep records. If you have any questions about record-keeping, feel free to contact ESDH.
Pictures are also personal information regardless of whether the picture is a portrait or a picture of the surroundings where a person happens to appear. You must therefore notify your project as with all other research projects in which personal information is processed. SDU RIO can also provide guidance on whether consent is needed or whether the information can be processed according to another legal basis. For more information, please see the guidance on the processing of personal information in research projects.
Yes, voice recordings are personal information, and the project must therefore be notified to SDU RIO.
You must always contact SDU RIO in connection with data processing agreements regardless of whether you/SDU is the data controller or the data processor. You must never sign a data processing agreement yourself.
Students who work with research data do not necessarily have to sign a data processing agreement. It depends on the circumstances. Please contact SDU RIO to hear about the possibilities.
We recommend that you use only SDU-approved systems (Sitecore) as this will be less laborious, reduce the risk of errors, and because they are legally and technically approved. If you have to use a different system, please contact SDU IT for further guidance.
Only research projects involving personally identifiable human material such as ova, cells or tissue have to be notified to a Committee on Health Research Ethics. Projects only involving data and figures are called register research projects and do not have to be notified to a Committee on Health Research Ethics.
In case of doubt, please contact the Committee on Health Research Ethics, VEK, (email) or at +45 76 63 82 21.
If you would like an ethical assessment of a project that is not subject to the rules of VEK, you can apply for an opinion of SDU’s REC (Research Ethics Committee). This is completely voluntary but can be of help if you want to publish in the USA where there are many requirements for ethical documentation.