Lunch & Learn: Data Stewardship in an Interdisciplinary Context: The Experience at LiRI

Presenters: Andrew Clark & Gorka Fraga-González | UZH, Linguistic Research Infrastructure LiRI

The Linguistic Research Infrastructure (LiRI) serves as a technological hub supporting a highly diverse user community spanning linguistics, language science, psychology, and cognitive science. Consequently, LiRI data stewards encounter an interdisciplinary landscape where researchers generate heterogeneous datasets; ranging from text corpora and audio/video recordings to eye-tracking and EEG data — that are often complex, sensitive, and vary in scale from tiny to truly large data. 

Data stewards at LiRI bridge the gap between technical constraints and research goals, providing support that extends from technical assistance with data conversion and processing to high-level advising on Data Management Plans (DMPs) and data publication. This support comes in various forms, ranging from tailored one-to-one consultations to the development of centralized documentation and best-practice guidelines. 

In this talk, we present a selection of use cases that illustrate the specific challenges of stewardship in this context, such as balancing data protection compliance with Open Science mandates for sensitive audiovisual data. We discuss the critical need for flexible, domain-specific data curation strategies rather than a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Finally, we outline the key resources developed by LiRI to foster a culture of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data within an interdisciplinary research environment.

Diese Lunch & Learn Serie bietet Angehörigen der UZH monatlich einen kurzen und übersichtlichen Einblick in verschiedene Aspekte rund um Open Science. Der Anlass beginnt jeweils mit einem halbstündigen Input-Referat und schliesst mit einer offenen Fragenrunde.