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CSC – IT Center for Science provides data management services and tools for computing, storing as well as opening and sharing data. As the amount of data is increasing all the time, it is important that services support the workflows and enable easy data handling.
Text: Siiri Fuchs (CSC)
Good data handling is the basis of successful research. Furthermore, well managed data is crucial for sharing the data and ensuring that it can be reused for future science. CSC is a Finnish center of expertise in information technology and provides high-quality ICT expert services. Many of CSC’s services are free-of-charge for academic research, education and training purposes in Finnish higher education institutions and in state research institutes. Services are constantly being developed in order to meet customer needs.
Services offered by CSC can be divided into four categories 1) computing & analysing, 2) storing & sharing, 3) opening & discovering, and 4) preserving. You can browse services from our service catalogue or get familiar with data management lifecycle steps and related services from our data management webpages.
Do I have sensitive data?
To find the right service for your needs start by knowing what your data holds; especially, if your data has sensitive or confidential information, you should choose appropriate services. For more information on sensitive data services offered by CSC see our sensitive data web pages.
The demand for sensitive data services has grown a lot. New secure services are being developed at CSC both to cover sensitive data handling during the research project, but also when sharing the data after the project. CSC is for example launching Federated European Genome-phenome Archive (Federated EGA or FEGA) this year. Federated EGA is a secure data repository for storing and sharing human genomes and associated phenotypic information consented for research. Stay tuned and sign up for the CSC newsletter to get the latest updates about services.
Use case examples make it easier to get started
To make it easier to get started using CSC services, we have gathered use case examples. One example can also be watched on Youtube: a research group consisting of members from different universities in Finland have started a project and they need data management services, which can be accessed regardless of their home institution.
Our example research group requires storing and computing capacity for their sequence data. To ease the transfer of the data, a sequence analysis provider can transfer the data directly to CSC Allas storing environment. After this, the research group can start data analysis. In our case, the group can analyze their data either using the Chipster software or Puhti, both provided by CSC. When the data is complete and the project reaches its end, the data needs to be published.
Services for opening data
There are many options available for publishing and opening data. Services that are Finnish or produced in collaboration with CSC are listed at our Open & Discover -webpages by discipline. The best repository options for biomolecular data can be found from ELIXIR deposition databases list. ELIXIR brings together life science resources from across Europe to form a single infrastructure. The goal of ELIXIR is to make it easier for scientists to find and share data, but also to exchange expertise and agree on best practices. Ultimately, the data resources enable long-term preservation of biological data and help to gain new insight in how living organisms work.
Additionally, ELIXIR-CONVERGE project has launched a new online guide Research Data Management kit (RDMkit) containing good data management practices applicable to research projects from the beginning to the end. The RDMkit offers guidelines, information and pointers, organised in many different ways, to help with problems throughout the data’s life cycle.
If you need help with services offered by CSC, contact CSC service desk or your home institution support services. If you know what you need, then get your CSC account here, and get started.