McClayRDS

Applying For Storage

QUB Principal Investigators (PIs) may request access to the McClay Research Data Store (McClayRDS) for the duration of their research project.

The storage space will be assigned to individual research projects and access is available to specified members of that research group. Access can be requested by filling in the application form here. In using McClayRDS you agree to the researcher responsibilities noted below.

Once assigned a project code, the directory is accessible at /mnt/autofs/mcclayrds-projects/<project-code>.

McClayRDS Data Lifecycle

When requesting storage on McClayRDS, you specify a "Project End Date" and a "Data Retention Period". This information is used to manage when your data is archived and deleted.

After the project end date, your data will be transferred from the active storage area into an archive where it will be stored for the specified data retention period. At the end of the data retention period your data will be permenantly deleted.

Please note that you will be unable to directly access your data while it is in the archive. Should you wish to regain access, please contact us to transfer your data back to the active area.

As your project end date approaches, please ensure that all unneeded data is deleted from your storage area in preparation for archiving.

Requesting Changes

To most effectively manage McClayRDS, we require accurate and up-to-date information on your storage requirements. Please contact us if you would like to make any changes to your project including:

• Quotas
• User access list
• Project end date
• Data retention period
• Principal Investigator (PI)

If you are a PI who is leaving QUB before the project ends, please contact us to nominate a new PI who will be able to make future decisions on the stored data.

Research Data Responsibilities

Responsibility for managing data during any research project or programme lies with Principal Investigators (PIs) and this includes the work of taught postgraduate students.

Responsibility for managing data is with the individual researchers (academic staff or postgraduate research students) if they are working on their own.

When responsibility is delegated to data managers, the PI retains accountability and is responsible as data owner (and data controller when personal data are collected) on behalf of the University.

PI Responsibilities

• Ensure data is managed in compliance with legislative requirements and University policy including the:
  • Research Data Management Policy
  • Data Protection Policy
  • Information Security Policy
  • Information Handling Policy
  • Policy on the Ethical Approval of Research
• Manage personal data in compliance with data protection legislation to include adherence with the following University policies and procedures:
  • Data Protection Policy
  • Information Security Policies
  • Data Protection Impact Assessment Policy and Procedures
  • Data Sharing Policy
  • Ethical Approval of Research including Human Participants
• Where data protection cannot be fully considered as part of an ethics application, ensure that a Data Protection Impact Assessment is completed.
• Where personal data is shared with a third party to process on the University’s behalf ensure that the necessary contractual arrangements are in place.

Researcher Responsibilities

While you may secure ethical approval via School or Faculty Research Ethics Committee (REC), the particularities of your research data is your responsibility.

• Ensure participants are fully informed about the type of information you are collecting about them, what it will be used for, how long it will be held, who will access it and whether identifiable or non-identifiable data will be published once the research is complete.
• Ensure documentation regarding informed consent is secured and held separately from the research data.
• Check funder terms and conditions, and meet any data sharing requirements such as standards and metadata, methods of data sharing, timeframe, and retention periods.
• Ensure retention periods for data are adhered to, including making the necessary arrangements for the transfer and management of data if you leave the University.
• Through sharing your data, you could expose or compromise your participants. It is your responsibility to ensure this does not occur. Anonymization/pseudonymization and encryption are required to de-identify data and to prevent disclosive data being revealed. This needs to be implemented wherever you are storing your data e.g. OneDrive, McClay RDS. Access controls are likely to be required for sensitive or very sensitive data.
• Ensure you have the appropriate data sharing/contract/collaboration agreements in place, if necessary.
• Identify a relevant discipline-specific or institutional repository to share your research data, if none is specified by your funder. In most cases, sharing your data will necessitate acquiring a DOI, which, generally, can only be achieved through sharing in data repository.