The first Data Competence College will be hosted from March 26th to 28th at the IT center of RWTH Aachen. Based on the concept of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin or the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton, we have invited four individuals with high data competence from different scientific fields (“Data Experts”) as part of the data competence college.

As of now, Prof. Sebastian Houben from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (specialist in AI and autonomous systems), and Dr. Moritz Wolter from University of Bonn (expert in high performance computing and machine learning) have already confirmed their participation.

For three days we aim to create a space where local scientists, and especially early career researchers, can learn from the data experts and each other regarding research data and methods but also data experts can inspire each other. The schedule includes keynote presentations by all data experts, poster presentations by the participants, and 1:1 sessions between data experts and early career researchers, as well as a variety of method- and data-related workshops. We aim at creating an environment in which everyone feels safe to give input, share their knowledge and learn from the other participants and experts.

The exchange with and among experts from different disciplines and/or areas of focus in particular can provide new impetus for data processing or methodical data analysis. In this way, the DKZ.2R Data Competence College forms the focus of mutual enrichment participants and experts alike.

To take part in the event please sign up using the registration form. As always, participation in this event is free of charge!

The RDM Workshop is a multi-day event where participants work together on RDM tools and discover new features and application scenarios: from eLabFTW to Coscine and DataLab to LiaScript - in community-led sessions in English, participants can try out and exchange ideas.

The third RDM workshop is being held in cooperation with the state initiative fdm.nrw, the ULB Münster, and the NFDI4BIOIMAGE. Until January 17th 2025, interested parties can submit their abstracts. More information regarding the application requirements are provided on this website. The DKZ.2R is looking forward to seein you at the RDM Workshop in Münster!

Course Description and Goals:

Statistical learning is a field that teaches students how to analyze and interpret data by applying statistical methods and machine learning algorithms to uncover patterns, make predictions, and gain insights from data. The syllabus includes:

• Statistical and machine learning methods, including linear and polynomial regression, logistic regression, and linear discriminant analysis.

• Model validation techniques such as cross-validation and bootstrap, model selection, and regularization methods (ridge and lasso).

• Nonlinear models, splines, and generalized additive models.

• Tree-based methods, including random forests and boosting.

• Support-vector machines and an introduction to causal inference.

• Unsupervised learning methods such as principal components analysis and clustering (k-means and hierarchical).

Examination Format: Report and Presentation (obligatory to receive participaation certificate)

General Information University: University of Duisburg-Essen

• Learning Platform: Moodle (Link: https://lehre.moodle.uni-due.de/course/view.php?id=1986)

• Hybrid Format: Yes, the course includes both in-person and online sessions via Zoom

• Study Program and Level: Master’s/PhD students

• Weekly Hours: The event consists of three block sessions (lecture with tutorial sessions) with two additional dates for tutorials:

• First session: 02.04. (9:00–14:00)

• Following sessions: 03.04. & 04.04. (9:00–17:00)

• Online session: 07.04.

• Final lecture: 25.04. (9:00–14:00)

• Language: German or English (depending on student preference)

Further information, including locations, and Zoom links, can be found on our homepage: Statistical Learning SS 25

Enabling a consistent and unobstructed standardization of research data will lead to substantial improvements in efficiency and synergies/collaboration among individual researchers and well-designed IT systems. In the era of digital infrastructures, this measure holds paramount importance in shaping the future of research. For the data to be sustainable and reusable, it must adhere to the “FAIR Data Principles”, meaning it should be “Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable”. The FAIR principles will be a cornerstone of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) implementation. Nowadays, Data Management Plans (DMPs) have become a requirement for project applications in Horizon Europe and are increasingly being demanded by various funding organizations, including the German Science Foundation (DFG), among others. The scientific consortium NFDI-MatWerk (National Research Data Infrastructure) focuses on the research area Materials Science & Materials Engineering (MSE). The central challenge is the digital representation of materials and their relevant process and load parameters. NFDI-MatWerk will provide in this summer school tailored information and solutions for dealing with research data in MSE.

Who can apply? PhD-students and Post-Docs working in experimental and/or modeling/simulation in any field of materials science and engineering (with or without experience in RDM). Advanced Master Students are also welcome to apply.

Registration deadline: March 15, 2025

Please keep in mind that the number of participants is limited. Therefore, the “First Come-First Served” principle will be applied. Those who register first will have priority to obtain a place in the spring school.

The participation is free of charge. The event will take place in English.

You can find more information abput the event on the official webpage: https://www.eusmat.net/research/other-events/nfdi-matwerk-spring-school-2025/

This event takes place in German. German description below.

Organizing decentrally stored data requires more than just a good overview and discipline. The right tool plays a crucial role in successful data management and productive collaboration in research teams. One such tool is DataLad, whose powerful features make it much easier to manage, version and distribute large amounts of data and promote the reproducibility of research processes. To help researchers use DataLad efficiently and deepen their knowledge, the data competence centers DKZ.2R, WiNoDa and the NFDI consortia NFDI4ING and NFDI4Objects are organizing a three-day workshop. From June 30 to July 2, there will be many opportunities to try out practice-oriented content and intensive collaboration with DataLad at the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University.

The first day of the workshop is dedicated to the basics and an introduction to the subject matter. Starting with a compact introduction to Git, the basic concepts and functions of DataLad will then be explained. On the second day, the focus will be on practice: in a “hackathon” session, participants will work in teams on their own projects or use cases. At the end of the workshop, the teams will present their results, providing a comprehensive overview of the various application areas of datalad and stimulating valuable discussions.

The workshop is aimed specifically at FDM experts who want to expand their skills in the field of data management and act as contact persons (“multipliers”) for DataLad in their teams and institutions in the future. Basic knowledge of Git is helpful, but not a prerequisite for participation.

If you are interested, please contact info@dkz2r.de.
Up to 5 people from each organizing institution can take part in the workshop.

German Description
Die Organisation dezentral gespeicherter Daten erfordert mehr als nur einen guten Überblick und Disziplin. Das richtige Werkzeug spielt eine entscheidende Rolle für ein erfolgreiches Datenmanagement und eine produktive Zusammenarbeit in Forschungsteams. Ein solches Werkzeug ist DataLad, das durch seine leistungsstarken Funktionen die Verwaltung, Versionierung und Verteilung großer Datenmengen erheblich erleichtert und die Reproduzierbarkeit von Forschungsprozessen fördert. Um Forschende dabei zu unterstützen, DataLad effizient zu nutzen und ihr Wissen zu vertiefen, organisieren die Datenkompetenzzentren DKZ.2R, WiNoDa zusammen mit den NFDI-Konsortien NFDI4ING und NFDI4Objects einen dreitägigen Workshop. Vom 30.6 bis 2.7. gibt es am IT Center der RWTH Aachen viele Gelegenheiten praxisorientierte Inhalte und intensive Zusammenarbeit mit DataLad auszuprobieren.

Der erste Tag des Workshops widmet sich den Grundlagen und der Einführung in die Materie. Beginnend mit einer kompakten Einführung in Git, werden anschließend die grundlegenden Konzepte und Funktionen von DataLad erläutert. Am zweiten Tag steht die Praxis im Vordergrund: In einer „Hackathon“-Session arbeiten die Teilnehmer in Teams an eigenen Projekten oder Use Cases. Zum Abschluss des Workshops präsentieren die Teams ihre Ergebnisse, wodurch eine umfassende Gesamtschau der verschiedenen Anwendungsbereiche von datalad entsteht und wertvolle Diskussionen angeregt werden.

Der Workshop richtet sich gezielt an FDM-Expertinnen und Experten, die ihre Kompetenzen im Bereich des Datenmanagements erweitern und künftig in ihren Teams und Institutionen als Ansprechpersonen („Multiplikatoren“) für DataLad fungieren möchten. Grundlegende Git-Kenntnisse sind hilfreich, aber keine Voraussetzung für die Teilnahme.

Wer Interesse hat, wendet sich an info@dkz2r.de.
Von jeder organisierenden Einrichtung können bis zu 5 Personen am Workshop teilnehmen.

Following the Data-Science-Community Workshop at the INFORMATIK Festival in September at Hochschule Rhein-Main in Wiesbaden, the organisers from (among others) Data Science Center Bremen invited the Data-Science-Community to a follow-up workshop at Hochschule Bochum. The meeting will take place from March 19th to March 20th and will focus mainly on creating a well-connected community, improve ways of communication, identify synergies, and enable fruitful collaborations. We are looking forward to the meeting and are excited connect with other projects, initiatives, and individuals in the Data-Science-Community.

As part of our “Trainings” work package, the DKZ.2R plans to curate and provide a variety of trainings, seminars and courses. We will start by offering an official The Carpentries Workshop on the 17th and 18th of March on the topic of “plotting and programming in Python”. The Carpentries Workshop by DKZ.2R: Python basics and plotting The workshop will be hosted on-site at RWTH Aachen University and is open for up to 25 participants. The workshop material is available online and will be presented by official carpentry instructors who will walk you through the steps and are available for questions the whole time. The course is teaching the very basics of Python and although some experience with other scripting/programming languages is beneficial, no prior knowledge is required for the course. Furthermore, the event is open for participants from all domains. If you are interested in taking part in the workshop you can sign up here.

From March 12th to 14th the DKZ.2R will take part in the E-Science-Tage conference at University of Heidelberg. The Motto of this iteration is “Research Data Management: Challenges in a Changing World!”. The E-Science-Tage is an interdisciplinary conference series of the topics of reseach data management and open science. We will present the concept of the DKZ.2R in a 20-minute presentation and talk about how we contribute to changing the culture towards more FAIR research and what supporting early career researches in their data literacy has got to do with challenges in the changing world. Find more information about the conference on their webpage.

From February 18th to 19th the DKZ.2R will take part in the RDA-DE conference in Potsdam Germany. The Research Data Alliance Germany is a community aimed at aiding the exchange of data, and supporting the efficient reusability of data. Since 2014, the alliance is organising an annual conference in Potsdam focused on activities such as trainings supporting e.g. data science and data management. In 2025, the DKZ.2R will be part of the conference by presenting a poster on our contribution to creating a (more) data-literate scientific landscape in Germany.

The DKZ.2R presents, as a part of our “Trainings” work package, a Carpentries Workshop on the 2nd of February with an “Introduction to Git”. This is an official Carpentries Workshop and will be hosted on-site at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Workshop material is available online and will be presented by official Carpentries instructors, who will guide you through the concepts with the help of hands-on exercises and personalized support. The course is designed for beginners and is open to participants from all domains. No prior knowledge is required. If you are interested in taking part in the workshop, you can sign up here.

DKZ.2R teamed up with another data literacy center QUADRIGA, NFDIxCS, and NFDI4DS, to host a workshop on the topic of “Research Data and Research Software Competencies from the Perspective of Computer and Data Science” at the Themenwoche Digitale Kompetenzen in der Wissenschaft of the Volkswagenstiftung. Together with a diverse group of 35 participants from different data-literacy initiatives we will explore intersections between projects, present successful educational formats, identify gaps in current educational offerings, and collaboratively create new formats and an overall didactic framework. We are very much looking forward to this workshop week which will happen from the 2nd to 4th of December 2024 at the Xplanatorium in Hannover Herrenhausen. Find the agenda and more information about the workshop on this dedicated website

As part of our “Trainings” work package, the DKZ.2R plans to curate and provide a variety of trainings, seminars and courses. We will start by offering an official The Carpentries Workshop on the 21st and 22nd of November 2024 on the topic of “plotting and programming in Python”. The Carpentries Workshop by DKZ.2R: Python basics and plotting The workshop will be hosted on-site at RWTH Aachen University and is open for up to 25 participants. The workshop material is available online and will be presented by official carpentry instructors who will walk you through the steps and are available for questions the whole time. The course is teaching the very basics of Python and although some experience with other scripting/programming languages is beneficial, no prior knowledge is required for the course. Furthermore, the event is open for participants from all domains. If you are interested in taking part in the workshop you can sign up here.

The DKZ.2R presents, as a part of our “Trainings” work package, a Carpentries Workshop on the 18th and 22nd of November on the topic of “Introduction to the Unix Shell, Git, and GitLab”. This is an official Carpentries Workshop and will be hosted on-site at RWTH Aachen University.

Workshop material is available online and will be presented by official Carpentries instructors, who will guide you through the concepts with the help of hands-on exercises and personalized support. The course is designed for beginners and is open to participants from all domains. No prior knowledge is required. If you are interested in taking part in the workshop, you can sign up here.

For this year’s Research Data Day (Tag der Forschungsdaten) NRW, on the 12th of November 2024, Forschungszentrum Jülich and the RWTH Aachen University teamed up again to host an on-site event, this time in Jülich, which will be co-organised by DKZ.2R. Similarly to the last years, there will be online talks in the morning which will be viewed publicly. After Lunch we are starting with the on-site program including different talks and theme tables. More information on the concept an the event can be found under this link.

Every year the Berlin Science Week transforms the city into a vibrant festival of scientific ideas and debates. With over 180 participating organisations and more than 600 involved scientists, artists, politicians, and other inspiring initiators, Berlin Science Week captivates a diverse audience of over 30,000 participants. From our dynamic festival hubs, CAMPUS at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and Science & Culture FORUM at Holzmarkt 25, to various venues across the city, and online events from around the world, we ignite a lively platform for public exchange around topics of science and research and their role for a better tomorrow for all. Join the conversation, meet curious minds from around the world, and engage with new ideas and perspectives. Together with NFDIxCS, the DKZ.2R is organising an interactive exhibition at the “Museum für Naturkunde” on the first and second of November. We hope to meet you there!

From the 25th to 27th of September 2024, the Leibnitz Centre for Archaeology (LEIZA) & Mainz University of Applied Sciences are hosting the second NFDI4Objects Community meeting. There will be a diverse program with workshops focused on students and young researchers as well as teachers and other interested parties on the topic of research data management of object-related data. Furthermore, the NFDI4Objects will present their annual report, host poster sessions, and ignite talks, and organise collaboration and community workshops. In one of the poster sessions, we (DKZ.2R) will be presenting our poster titled: “The Rhine-Ruhr Center for Scientific Data Literacy (DKZ.2R) bridging the gaps to NDFI4Objects” The full program (in German) can be found on the NFDI4Objects Website. As the DKZ.2R is only funded for a duration of three years, the various NDFI consortia play a major part in finding ways to establishing our offers and making them last. As part of our networking strategy we are also constantly exchanging ideas and looking for synergies between project to use our ressources as efficiently as possible.

For the 54th time the German Computer Science Society is celebrating the INFORMATIK Festival, an event dedicated to networking and the exchange of information and skills between people working in computer science. This year’s event is hosted by the Hochschule Rhein-Main in Wiesbaden. The DKZ.2R will be taking part in the “Data-Science-Community Workshop” on the last day of the festival. The overarching goal of this workshop is to build bridges and lay the groundwork for sustainable connections between different data-science related projects like the newly founded Data Literacy Centers and other projects receiving permanent funding such as the different NFDI consortia.

From September 19th to 20th the BMBF is inviting representatives of all eleven Data Literacy Centers in Germany to come together in Berlin and discuss the progress and the difficulties of the projects. There will be two days of workshops with topics ranging from discussions of domain-specific data literacy to strategies and concept for stabilizing data literacy projects. Furthermore, there will be plenty of time for networking with the other Data literacy centers, as well as invited speakers from other data literacy and research data management initiatives such as the NFDI. Our main coordinator, Alicia Janz, and Lukas Bossert from RWTH Aachen University will represent the DKZ.2R at the meeting. We are looking forward to gaining insights into the work of other data literacy centers and learning from their experiences and the measures they are taking to support scientist in their work with research data.

On the 11th and 12th of September the RWTH Aachen is hosting the third Data Stewardship goes Germany event. The event was founded by TU9, an alliance of leading technical universities in Germany as a networking workshop for participants working in Research Data Management in Science and Technology. This year’s event is focused on the participants and their networks regarding Data Stewardship. As DKZ.2R we are offering different consulting-services and support structures for scientists working with research data. We are therefore very happy to be taking part in the DsgG workshop and connect with other people involved in supporting scientists in their work with ever-increasing amounts of data.

The FDM Workshop is a multi-day event where participants work together on FDM tools and discover new features and application scenarios: from eLabFTW to Coscine and DataLab to LiaScript - in community-led sessions in English, participants can try out and exchange ideas.

The second FDM workshop is being held in cooperation with the state initiative fdm.nrw, our data literacy center DKZ.2R and the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University . The event begins with a kick-off event on Monday, 18.03.2024 from 15:00. This will be followed by two days of work. There will be 12 thematic sessions, which will largely take place in parallel and in English. The content and required prior knowledge (e.g. Python) can be found in the respective session abstracts on the fdm.nrw website.