NERC requirements

What does the NERC expect?

Further sources of help

• DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN REQUIRED AT APPLICATION? All applications for NERC funding need to include a one-page Outline Data Management Plan (ODMP). A fuller Data Management Plan must be provided to NERC within three months of the project’s starting date.
• HELP WITH COSTS? Yes – applications must identify all resources needed to implement the Data Management Plan.
• DATA DEPOSIT AND TIMESCALES: At the end of a research project NERC requires that all datasets with long-term value should be made available for others to use with as few restrictions as possible, and in a timely manner, usually via one of the NERC Data Centres. Researchers have ‘right of first use’ to their data but this is normally restricted to two years from the end of data collection.
• ACCESS AND DATA SHARING: All environmental data held by the NERC Data Centres will be made freely available without any restrictions on use – except for a limited number of data sets where third party rights require NERC to restrict access or to levy charges. As with all RCUK-funded publications, all research publications arising from NERC funding must include a statement on how the supporting data and any other relevant research materials can be accessed.

• NERC Data Policy
• NERC Data Policy – Guidance Notes
• NERC guidance notes for completion of the ODMP
• NERC Data Value Checklist
• NERC Discovery Metadata Standards and Procedures
• Data Management Planning: NERC Funding Applicants – a guide prepared by the University of Bristol Research Data Service (PDF)