Data Management and Data Carpentry for Ecology

This online course will provide you with basic data skills on research data management and an introduction to the use of selected data tools (e. g. OpenRefine, R) necessary for conducting research. This course is open for Bachelor, Master or PhD students from all ENLIGHT universities, particularly within Applied Informatics, Ecology, Biology, Forestry, Agriculture and related disciplines. The course is recommended to students from 4^th semester, with some former experience in working with research data. Participants are encouraged to help each other and apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

Learning outcomes

As a result of this course, students will have learned the following:

• Basic knowledge of data management, esp. data lifecycle, FAIR and Open Data, function and structure of data management plans, research data guidelines, infrastructures and services,
• Basic concepts, principles and approaches as well as tools for working with data, in particular:
  • Data Organization in Spreadsheet: Basics of how to organize tabular data, handle date formatting, carry out quality control and quality assurance and export data to use with downstream applications.
  • Data Cleaning with OpenRefine: Explore, summarize, and clean tabular data reproducibly.
  • Data Analysis and Visualization in R: Import data into R, calculate summary statistics, and create publication-quality graphics.
  • Data Management with SQL: Structure data for database import. Query data within a relational database.

Teaching format

Seminar (6 sessions) and block workshop (1 week)

Extra information on teaching methods: participatory live coding (block course)

Assessment

Assignment and short presentation of results, not graded

Lecturers

Birgit Schmidt, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Timo Henne, Péter Kiraly, Julika Mimkes and further instructors

Course dates

Seminar sessions

Tuesdays, 13.00-15.00 - online
4, 11, 18 and 25 November, 9 and 16 December 2025

Block Course

1-5 December 2025 - online
1 December 2025, 9.00 - 17.00 - Data organization in spreadsheets (morning), OpenRefine (afternoon)
2 December 2025, 9.00-13.00 - SQL
3-5 December 2025, 9.00-13.00 - R

Entry requirements: This course is primarily open to students from disciplines, such as Applied Informatics, Ecology, Biology, Forestry, Agriculture or related disciplines. Students from other disciplines may participate as well, if sufficent places are available.

! Before registration: Please check with your home faculty / programme if the course can be integrated in your curriculum in order to ensure recognition of the credits / ECTS obtained !

 Selection of course participants will be based on entry requirements and available course capacities. Selection will refer to a “first come first serve” principle across partner universities, i. e. the first applications from each university will be selected to increase diversity in the course.

Students from all ENLIGHT partner universities are eligible to participate. Students who meet the requirements mentioned above can apply directly: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/698171.html.

Students from Ghent University need to obtain faculty approval by filling this form and have it signed by Faculty Student Administration.

The host university will select the permitted number of students, inform the students as soon as possible following the application deadline (6^th October 2025).

Unsuccessful students will be placed on a waiting list and may get a place in case of drop outs at a later stage.

Students will receive a Transcript of Records following successful completion.

If you have questions about the course (content, structure, requirements, etc.), please contact:

Birgit Schmidt, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.