9-13.02.2025
9–13 February 2026 | Medical University of Silesia in Katowice
Love Data Week is an international initiative launched by ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research), which aims to promote good practices in the field of research data management, their sharing and reuse.
The theme of the 2026 edition is: Where’s the Data?
This is a question that is being asked with increasing frequency, not only in discussions about research integrity, but also in the context of grant requirements, the evaluation of research output and scientific transparency.
At the Medical University of Silesia, we are dedicating Love Data Week 2026 to the practical aspects of open research data — without getting bogged down in theory, but with practical support for researchers.
Open Research Data to dane uzyskane lub wytworzone w procesie badawczym, które zostały wykorzystane w pracy naukowej i są udostępniane w sposób umożliwiający:
- free access,
- reuse,
- verification of test results,
- replication or further analysis of the data.
Open research data can take various forms — from numerical and tabular data, through text, images and multimedia materials, to structured data and research documentation.
The key point is that information regarding the existence of the data should be publicly available, even if the data itself — for legitimate reasons — cannot be made fully open.
Research data is collected and made available in, among other places:
- research data repositories,
- magazines of the type data journals.
Opening up research data is not just a matter of goodwill or trends in science. It is the consequence of systemic changes, which include research funding, grant-awarding bodies’ policies and expectations of research institutions.
The benefits for science include, amongst others:
- improving the quality and reliability of research,
- increasing the transparency of the research process,
- reducing duplication of tests,
- the opportunity to utilise unique data that cannot be collected again,
- better reproducibility and consistency of results,
- the development of interdisciplinary cooperation,
- increased visibility and citation rates of research,
- an increase in public confidence in science,
- preparing data for analysis using AI technology,
- the development ofcitizen science).
Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2025)
In 2025, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education published a document
‘Policy on open access to publicly funded research data’.
This document is not prescriptive, but:
- sets the direction for action,
- brings existing initiatives under one umbrella,
- sets out the objectives and a plan for achieving them.
Głównym celem polityki jest stworzenie ram zapewniających the security and accessibility of publicly funded research data, in accordance with the principle:
“As open as possible, as closed as necessary”
(as open as possible, as closed as necessary)
This policy is aimed at:
- universities and research institutes,
- research funding agencies (NCN, NCBR),
- scientists,
- the private and education sectors,
- participants in civic education.
At national level, it is of key importance that Order No. 39/2025 of the Director of the National Science Centre dated 26 June 2025 regarding the policy on the publication of research results.
Although certain rules regarding Open Access publishing were relaxed in 2025 (for example, publications under the closed-access model were permitted) the rules concerning research data remained unchanged:
Research data should be made available regardless of the article’s publication model,
provided there are no substantive grounds for restricting their availability
For years, the NCN has also required planu zarządzania danymi (DMP) as part of grant applications.
The NCN guidelines can be regarded as a practical framework for DMP, which is then developed during the project implementation phase.
On the programme Horyzont Europa The European Commission requires beneficiaries to:
- open access to academic publications,
- responsible management of research data,
- to ensure that data complies with the rules FAIR.
FAIR means that data should be:
- Findable – możliwe do odnalezienia,
- Accessible – dostępne,
- Interoperable – interoperacyjne,
- Reusable – możliwe do ponownego wykorzystania.
Research data repositories, such as PPM ŚUMare one of the key tools for putting these principles into practice.
ŚUM Medical Platform (PPM ŚUM) is the university’s repository, which serves a dual purpose:
Research data repository
This is a systematically managed digital platform that enables:
- storage,
- sharing,
- archiving of research data,
- long-term data availability,
- linking data to publications and research projects.
Publications repository
The platform provides permanent access to:
- scientific articles,
- reports,
- other research materials, promoting open access and the visibility of the University of Silesia’s research output.
Open-door policy Polskiej Platformy Medycznej ŚUM refers directly to the research data.
The resolution emphasises, among other things:
- the need to draw up and update data management plans,
- the aim of making data and metadata openly available,
- the importance of long-term data archiving,
- the responsibility of data creators for the accuracy, traceability and usability of the data,
- the role of a repository as the primary repository for research data.
Repository and Open Science Promotion Department supports researchers at the Medical University of Silesia at every stage of research data deposit.
The whole process can be carried out remotely, by email, without having to navigate the procedures yourself.
What do you need to prepare?
Data information:
- Creator / author of the data
- Responsible unit
- Data title (PL and EN)
- Year of establishment
- Keywords (PL and EN)
- Academic discipline (in accordance with Act 2.0)
- Abstract (PL and EN)
- Related publication (if any)
- Research project and project leader (if applicable)
Information regarding the licence agreement:
- first name and surname,
- place of residence,
- work email address.
Data formats:
Zalecane są open formats, enabling long-term access to and reuse of data (e.g. CSV, PDF, TIFF, XML).
What does PPM ŚUM offer? PPM ŚUM?
Once the data has been submitted:
- a permanent DOI identifier is assigned DOI,
- the data may be made available in the Open Access model,
- you can choose a licence (e.g. CC BY),
- long-term storage is guaranteed,
- the data complies with the rules FAIR,
- The record contains information on funding (e.g. NCN).
Contact:
Krzysztof Gościniak
Open Science Repository and Promotion Department
kgosciniak@sum.edu.pl
We invite researchers, PhD students and members of research societies to online training (in Polish):
Open research data in practice: how to deposit data in the Medical University of Silesia Repository – Polish Medical Platform ŚUM
The training will help participants to deposit research data efficiently and securely in the Medical University of Silesia Repository – Polish Medical Platform ŚUM. During the classes, we will discuss:
- obligations arising from the guidelines National Science Centre, Ministry of Science and Higher Education and European programmes,
- practical aspects of creation data management plans (DMPs),
- requirements concerning data and metadata formats,
- data deposit process step by step,
- role SUM Library as substantive and organisational support.
- rules FAIR data
The training is practical and responds to the real needs of scientists carrying out research projects.
Dates and registration:
Repository and Open Science Promotion Department
Krzysztof Gościniak, MA
Head of Department, Open Science Team Coordinator
tel. 32 208 36 33
email: kgosciniak@sum.edu.pl, ppm@sum.edu.pl
The department team includes:
Joanna Gubernat, MA
Monika Matysik, MA
Ewa Naleśnik, MA
Anna Starzykowska, BA
tel. 32 208 36 75
First floor, rooms 2.2 and 2.3
email: ppm@sum.edu.pl