Data Management

Guidance for planning, documenting, reviewing, and supporting research data management plans for Microbiology and Immunology projects.

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About data management plans (DMPs)

A data management plan (DMP) is a written document that describes the data you expect to acquire or generate during a research project, how you will manage, describe, analyze, and store those data, and how you will share and preserve them when the project ends.

Writing a DMP helps formalize your approach, identify gaps early, and keep a record of what your team intends to do. Data management is best addressed at the start of a project, but it is never too late to create or revise a plan.

Why create a DMP early?

  • Clarify expectations: Document how data will be collected, named, stored, described, and preserved before project complexity grows.
  • Reduce risk: Identify privacy, security, backup, and retention gaps early so they can be addressed before problems appear.
  • Support funding readiness: Many granting programs expect research data management planning as part of a complete proposal package.

Requirements, examples, and review

Funding agency requirements may apply. Many funding agencies require a DMP with grant applications. The federal Tri-Agency research data management policy framework has made DMP planning increasingly important for funded research.

Funding agency requirements

UBC research support teams maintain guidance on data management and sharing expectations across major funding agencies. A good starting point is the SPARC comparison resource together with the Tri-Agency policy material.

Sample agency-specific plans

DMP review support

MBIM IT, ARC Consult, and UBC research data support can help review your plan and identify technical, storage, or process issues before submission.

Creating a data management plan

A DMP is a living document

Research changes over time, and your DMP should change with it. Review the plan whenever collection methods, storage locations, privacy requirements, sharing expectations, or collaborators change.

Preparing to write a DMP

Before drafting, think through storage, backup, metadata, access controls, and any sensitive data requirements. This also assumes you have completed the required UBC Privacy Matters training.

The Stanford/California Digital Library DMPTool and the Portage DMP Assistant both provide guided workflows for creating ready-to-submit plans tailored to funders and research contexts. See Stanford DMPTool information and UBC DMPTool access information.

DMP submission

Once your DMP is complete, include it with the rest of your proposal package according to the requirements of the relevant funding agency.

Training resources for data management

UBC Library research teams maintain training materials that support digital scholarship, research data management, citation management, GIS, and data analysis workflows.

UBC research data management abstracts and session slides

Reference these sessions when building or refining your research data management approach:

Need help reviewing your DMP, planning storage, or choosing a departmental service? Contact Microbiology and Immunology IT.