Data management plans

Sensitive data must be handled and stored carefully. It is important that you know about the University's guidance on data protection and handling personal and research data and become familiar with the Turing Tiers approach to data classification outlined in the Research Information Management Guide (university log in required). Please discuss this with your supervisors.

Read more about the protection of sensitive information in the University's information protection policy.

Find out more about safeguarding data on the Library website.

Make sure you know what University storage is available to you, think about the most appropriate place to store your data, and consider whether encryption is needed.  

Check information from IT Services about keeping data safe, including what to consider when working on a laptop or when generating data outside the University. The IT Services article Research Information Management Guide - Data Classifications provides information on supporting the appropriate storage of research data in approved onsite and cloud-based systems, helping to reduce the risk of data loss and unauthorised access of data. The guidance is needed to ensure research data is stored in approved systems, and that data is assessed, classified, and managed appropriately. You should also read the Research Information Management Guide pdf attached to the article.

Remember you may need to access data for future work and publications. You should consider this when making your data management plan. Your university IT account will become inactive 90 days after you are on the pass list, so if you or someone else will need access to data after this point you should plan for this.

Many research funders encourage data sharing beyond the original project where appropriate. You should address data sharing both during and after your research in your data management plan.

It is important that your consent wording, any participant information, and any agreements with project partners are consistent with how you plan to use the data.

The University's Research Data Leeds repository can be used to share open research data generated by Leeds researchers. The Library also manages a repository service for controlled access datasets called RADAR.;

For information on how to use data repositories, please see the Library website.

If you need advice on sharing material related to your thesis, for example for a conference presentation, an exhibition, or a journal article, you can email the Research Data team in the Library on researchdataenquiries@leeds.ac.uk.

After you appear on a pass list, your PGR IT account will stay active for 90 days. You'll also receive an email about this and a reminder ten days before your account is closed.

The IT services article Leaving the University - your account has more information about your IT account closing after you are awarded your research degree.

Inactive accounts are securely deleted after 400 days, and data cannot be recovered after deletion.

Your data management plan covers how your research data will be stored after you finish your degree.