RDMO association takes off: revolution in research data management!

RDMO association takes off: revolution in research data management!

The founding of the association “RDMO. Research Data Management Organizer e.V.” marks a significant step in promoting research data management in Germany. The Ruhr University of Bochum, the Technical University of Dortmund and the University of Duisburg-Essen are the founding members of the association, which was officially founded in November 2024. On March 25, 2025, the association started its work with a virtual community meeting news.rub.de reported.

Johannes Frenzel from the Ruhr University Bochum was appointed treasurer of the founding board. A central concern of the new association is the further development of the open source software RDMO. This software supports researchers in the structured planning, control and documentation of their scientific projects. The information collected can be exported as a data management plan (DMP), which is particularly helpful for applying for funding from institutions such as the German Research Foundation or the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Goals and functions of RDMO

The RDMO tool was originally developed in two project phases between November 2015 and April 2020 and has since become an important resource for creating data management plans. Loud forschungsdaten.org The main goal of RDMO is to support the structured planning, implementation and administration of research data management. Central management of information and customizable question and answer templates are just some of the software's core functionalities.

Additionally, RDMO enables continuous updateability and versioning of data management plans. It supports the requirements of various funding agencies and ensures that researchers can properly handle their data during and after projects. In the second project phase, which lasted until April 2020, functionalities such as a sophisticated role concept, supporting repositories and the development of an international exchange format for DMPs were implemented.

The RDMO community and its future development

The RDMO software is already used in many German research institutions. The establishment of a working group within the association and numerous community meetings that have been taking place since 2018 promote the exchange and further development of the software. Virtual meetings and hackathons, such as those in March 2023 and September 2023 in Darmstadt, demonstrate the community's ongoing commitment.

The office of the RDMO association is hosted by the Ruhr University Alliance. The research data management team is now available to interested researchers to answer any questions they may have. The project websites also contain comprehensive documentation, tutorials and FAQs that offer further support.