New alliances for research and teaching support: establishing the Göttingen eResearch Alliance

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and implementation of policies, digital infrastructures and hands-on support for eResearch at the University of Göttingen. Core elements of this activity are to provide support for research data management to researchers of all disciplines and to coordinate on-campus activities. These activities are actively aligned with disciplinary, national and international policies and e-infrastructures.

The process of setting up and implementing an institutional data policy and its necessary communications and workflows are described and analysed. A first assessment of service development and uptake is provided in the area of embedded research data support.

A coordination unit for eResearch brings together knowledge about methods and tools that are otherwise scattered across disciplinary units. This provides a framework for policy implementation and improves the quality of institutional research environments.

The study provides information about an institutional implementation strategy for infrastructure and services related to research data. The lessons learned allow insights into current challenges and work ahead.

With a cross-cutting, “horizontal” approach, in the Göttingen eResearch Alliance, two research-orientated infrastructure providers, a library and an IT service, combine their services and expertise to develop an eResearch service and support portfolio for the Göttingen Campus.