Digitisation affects all areas of research. Today, the digital provision of scientific sources and data is an indispensable basis for excellent research. Today's and tomorrow's challenges are to link digital techniques and methods more closely to the conception of research methods and to strengthen cooperation.
Digitisation strategy
Digitisation projects
As a driver of digitisation, the University Computer Centre contributes a wide range of technical expertise to strengthen research at the University of Leipzig. It works closely with faculties, research institutions or cooperation partners of Leipzig University.
In addition to IT conception and strategy development, the URZ implements a wide range of digitisation projects in its Research.digital focus area, which will later be integrated into the service portfolio for researchers as IT services. The following selection of digitisation projects provides an insight into the IT services being developed:
Project management: University Computing Centre
Project content: Establishment of a scientific, transfer-oriented computer centre for Leipzig as a business and science location for three areas of use: a) method development for research into artificial intelligence, b) application-oriented cooperation projects between business and science in the AI field and c) training of IT specialists and AI experts.
Work task: Planning, monitoring and support during construction and commissioning
Project management: University Computer Centre
Project content: Development and establishment of a comprehensive service portfolio to support data-based as well as data- and computation-intensive scientific computing for researchers at Leipzig University.
Work task: Procurement, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the IT infrastructure for scientific computing; installation, operation and maintenance of scientific software, consulting and training services
Project management: University Computer Centre
Project content: Development of a university solution for web-based cataloguing, administration and provision of data from the university collections.
Work task: Coordination of requirements with custodians and heads of the collections of the University of Leipzig; development of a university collection platform; data transfers, data quality management
Project management: Department 1 Research and Transfer
Project content: Evaluation, assessment and implementation of digital solutions (in particular basic services in the area of information infrastructures) to improve the research conditions for researchers at Leipzig University.
Work task: IT service development and implementation, technology consulting and evaluation.
Project management: ZIH, TU Dresden
Project content: Expansion of the OpARA research data repository as a Saxony-wide service - Conceptual further development and connection of further SaxFDM partners to the OpARA research data repository.
Work task: IT service development and implementation, connection of source and target systems, development of a training and operating model
Project management: Humboldt-Universität Berlin
Project content: Further development of central aspects of research data management, including FD strategies for departments, FD policies for research projects, FD service portfolios for service providers, concepts and competences for FD legal advice, subject-specific train-the-trainer modules
Work task: Exchange of experience and technology consulting as an associated partner
Project management: Quality development in the administration
Project content: Software and system analysis, development of a security release of the IVMC application to ensure its usability in the short term until it is replaced by a new corresponding tool.
Work task: Software security analysis, IT conception, development of the software release, renewal of the IT basis and interfaces
Advice and support
The URZ is actively involved as a member of the Research Digitisation Strategy Working Group. The working group was set up in 2019 by the Research Commission and is coordinated by the speaker of the Prorector for Research and Young Academics. In addition, members of the University Library and Department 1 Research and Transfer as well as external consultants participate in the working group.
The aim is to develop a digitisation strategy for research at Leipzig University to support researchers at all career levels and to strengthen existing and new research priorities on the basis of competitive digital research infrastructures. The focus is on the fields of action "Digitisation in the scientific knowledge process", "Collaboration and cooperation" and "Digitisation of research data management".
The URZ is actively involved as a member of the Research Data Working Group. The working group was set up in 2019 by the Prorector for Research and Young Academics and consists of members from the University Computing Centre, the University Library, Department 1 Research and Transfer and the speaker of the Prorector for Excellence Development: Research and Transfer.
The aim is to provide strategic support for further development in the handling of research data. One of the core tasks is to advance the digitisation of research data in a structured manner and to promote its broad use. The working group discusses strategic directions, develops guidelines and principles for dealing with digital data and evaluates them on a permanent basis. In addition, the Research Data Working Group was commissioned to apply for and supervise an initiative budget project on the topic of research data management.
Leipzig University is a partner in the Saxon research data initiative SaxFDM. The initiative is dedicated to technical services related to research data management in various working groups. In addition to the exchange of experience on corresponding software, the initiative aims to build up technical infrastructures that can be used jointly. The central goal of participation is to increase synergies in the SaxFDM network. The digitisation of the active research process should lead to new IT services for researchers and complement the service portfolio of the University Computer Centre.