Enabling new research from population data
7 January 2010
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is launching the first stage of a new Data Support Service which will help population researchers make use of existing data for new science, avoiding unnecessary duplication and expense.
The MRC is working with a consortium from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Universities of London and Oxford to develop a Data Support Service to make it easier for scientists to search its stores of population science data.
The initial service will be available in 2011 and will offer search tools and directory listings of up to 100 population data collections, including detailed information from several studies of particularly high research value.
Declan Mulkeen, MRC Director of Research and Training, said: “Many of these data collections have been built up over several decades and represent thousands of hours of painstaking survey work and analysis. The Data Support Service is one part of the MRC’s long-term strategy to preserve data so that it can be shared and re-used by scientists for further high quality, ethical research.”
Neil Geddes, STFC Director of e-Science, said: "The Data Support Service is about building a community of expertise to support the long-term use of MRC research data. The STFC is delighted to work with the MRC and our partners at Oxford University and University College London to bring together expertise in data modelling, digital preservation and medical ethics to enable the Data Support Service to support high quality research.”
The MRC Data Support Service will also help those responsible for securely storing and maintaining data and provide examples of good practice in sharing and curation.
For more information on the Data Support Service, please contact Peter Dukes (peter.dukes@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk)
