For the past 18 months, the Skills Development for Managing Longitudinal Data for Sharing project has been working to transform how researchers manage and share longitudinal data.
Jo Webb and Cristina Magder review the journey.
The challenge
The project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), as part of an initial Population Research UK (PRUK) project.
We wanted to boost the skills and knowledge needed to share valuable LPS data more widely and effectively.
Our goal was to help support researchers and data managers working with longitudinal data to understand and overcome the obstacles that often hinder effective data sharing.
We wanted to develop standardised ways to manage data that everyone in the community could use. This included teaching critical skills like data formatting, documentation, managing metadata and anonymising sensitive information. By improving these fundamental practices, we also aimed to make longitudinal data analysis more efficient and accurate.
In simple terms, we wanted to give data managers the tools and knowledge they needed to make important longitudinal research data more accessible and useful to the wider scientific community.
The journey
We started with an analysis of existing training materials and resources to identify gaps and areas requiring improvement
We initially thought that many existing training materials which had been mainly tailored to social science data would need a large amount of adaptation for biomedical contexts. However, the survey with LPS data managers and the stakeholder workshop showed the differences to be much fewer than expected across disciplines.
These engagements helped us undertake an external audit of training provision and to work closely with LPS representatives and key stakeholders to identify unmet needs and to co-design appropriate training solutions.
We then focused on creating training resources covering essential topics such as data cleaning, formatting, documentation and metadata, and responsible ways for data sharing. This included the creation of comprehensive training materials encompassing guidance documents, slides, recordings, a training dataset, and train the trainer materials to help facilitate the delivery of this training in other organisations.
Throughout the process, we gathered and incorporated feedback to refine and adapt materials.
By the end of the project, more than 300 participants from countries spanning six continents had participated in the training workshops. From Australia to Nigeria, Brazil to Taiwan, data managers worldwide recognised the value of what was being created.
Sharing knowledge
We produced a comprehensive suite of training materials designed for reuse and adaptation. These included detailed guidance documents, notes, slides, a training dataset, and recordings, all made available on Zenodo under a Creative Commons license.
We wanted these resources to be easily discoverable and accessible for the future.
Building on the workshops and related materials, we developed ’train-the-trainer’ versions of all slides. We specifically designed these materials to support others in delivering the training effectively, making sure the quality and approach across different delivery contexts would remain consistent.
“[The materials] will be an excellent resource to refer back to,” shared one participant, while another planned to “cascade it to colleagues/academics and potentially start putting together data management sessions to deliver in-house.”
Lessons learned
The examples above show how we discovered the important to be flexible in our approach, adapting timelines and formats to ensure genuine community representation.
We committed to making sure the training was inclusive, using interactive elements and take home exercises to suit a range of learning styles.
We also gained a deeper understanding of the broader landscape of data sharing, identifying specific gaps such as the lack of training focused on metadata for relational databases.
We’re committed to making sure what we’ve learnt is embedded within the ongoing work of the UKDS, which plays a central role in the acquisition, curation, and dissemination of social science data in the UK and beyond, supporting over 50,000 users to access over 9900 data collections..
We can already see how insights and approaches developed through this project, particularly around co-designed, responsive training, will directly inform UKDS’ broader efforts to enhance data management and sharing practices as well as standard training delivery.
We’ve also recognised that planning for evidencing impact in a project like this is vital. We already have ideas for how we could enhance this in future projects.
Impact
We recognise that impact of a project like this will take some time to become fully apparent.
In the short term, the numbers are promising. By early May 2025, the training materials had been downloaded 1084 times, with the ‘train the trainer’ package downloaded an additional 394 times.
For both the training materials and the ‘train the trainer’ materials, no login is needed to access the resources on Zenodo. Consequently, we can’t get a more nuanced view of reach and type of user. However, these figures tell a positive story of engagement.
We had overwhelmingly positive feedback from workshop participants, with attendees consistently finding the training sessions both interesting and practically valuable for their professional or academic work.
As a result of the project, we have developed a new working relationship with the PRUK coordination hub and ATLAS which may not have happened otherwise. ATLAS is a team of researchers, charities and lived experience experts funded by the Wellcome Trust. The team systematically identifies and records information about longitudinal datasets from around the world and share this information on the Atlas.
This connection has opened up promising opportunities for sharing training materials and aligning efforts around cohort discoverability and metadata standards. Our focus on dissemination and stakeholder engagement created a clear rationale for the relationship and has laid the foundation for future collaboration.
Looking forward
We have outlined several exciting directions for further development, such as:
- Expanding training content in core competency areas
- Ongoing refinement of existing materials based on participant feedback
- Wider dissemination of resources across relevant communities
- Developing specialised guidance for biomedical data types
- Fostering deeper collaborations with networks like CLOSER and initiatives like Harmony and UKLLC
We’re excited at the possibility that this work could transform not just individual practices but more widely across the research ecosystem. By establishing clearer parameters for data types and standardising approaches to version control and file management, we’re moving toward a future where data sharing can become easier, leading to exciting new possibilities for research and impact.
About the authors
Jo Webb MBA CMgr MCMI is Head of Department at the UK Data Archive, based at the University of Essex.
She has extensive experience in strategic leadership, governance, and operational delivery within research and data-driven environments. Jo is passionate about developing people and is Co-Investigator on the ESRC funded Odyssey project looking at data professional career pathways.
Cristina Magder is a dedicated data professional working at the UK Data Service, where she leads the Data Collections Development and Research Data Management teams.
She oversees the acquisition and appraisal of data collections for the UK Data Archive and directs national training and support efforts to help researchers meet the UKRI Research Data Policy for the ESRC. Cristina also contributes to strategic research on synthetic data, exploring its potential for improving data access. Her work supports stronger data governance, policy development, and accessible infrastructure for the social sciences through collaborative engagement with internal teams and external partners.
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