Supervision of theses

This page is aimed at supervisors of Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral theses and provides a concise overview of what to look out for when dealing with research data in the individual phases of the thesis.

For each phase, the questions to be discussed, the tasks of the supervisor and the available resources and support services are listed.

If you have any questions, you can contact the Research Data Service at any time.

Planning phase

Questions

  • What data should be collected, generated or used?
  • Are there any legal or ethical requirements (e.g. data protection, consent)?
  • How and where should the data be stored and organized?
  • What does "high-quality" data look like and how can this high quality be achieved?
  • Initial orientation: What metadata is required?

Tasks

  • Raising supervisee's awareness of research data management
  • Discussion of a (simple first) data management plan (DMP)
  • Reference to institutional requirements, guidelines, and contact points
  • Reference to self-study unit (possibly mandatory?)

Resources

Implementation phase

Questions

  • How is data documented and versioned in a clear, comprehensible manner?
  • Which tools help with organization, storage, and analysis?
  • How can high data quality be achieved?
  • How can data loss be prevented?

Tasks

  • Encourage the practical implementation of the DMP
  • Arrange regular update of DMP, discuss open questions
  • Recommendations on suitable tools and secure storage locations
  • Support in recognizing and handling sensitive data

Resources

Final phase

Questions

  • Must or should the data be published?
  • Who may need to give their consent (who owns which rights to the data)?
  • Which repositories are suitable?
  • What (additional) metadata is required for publication (e.g. from the third-party funder, repository or publisher)?
  • Under which license should the data be published?
  • What happens to the data that is not to be published? Which should be kept, which should or must be deleted?

Tasks

  • Decide together which data should be stored
  • Discuss where the data will remain after the thesis (publication and subsequent use if necessary)
  • Check whether all data to be retained is documented in a comprehensible manner
  • Provide support in selecting a suitable repository
  • Clarify who has which rights to the data
  • Specify a suitable license or decide on one together

Resources and support

Further information and contact