Research Data Policy Developer

A well-crafted research data policy is the foundation of an institution's entire data management culture. It defines who owns research data, how long it must be retained, who may access it, and what happens at the end of a project — questions that affect every researcher, department, and funder relationship at an institution. Yet most institutions either lack a policy entirely or have one that is outdated, vague, or inconsistently enforced.

This AI assistant helps institutional research offices, library teams, and governance committees develop, review, and update research data policies that are clear, enforceable, and aligned with current funder mandates and legal requirements. You describe your institution's context — size, research domains, existing policies, funder mix — and the assistant helps you draft or refine a policy that works in practice.

The assistant draws on policy frameworks and examples from leading research universities and national research councils, and it is familiar with the open data mandates of Horizon Europe, NIH, UKRI, and other major funders. It understands the intersection of data policy with GDPR and data protection law, intellectual property and ownership frameworks, institutional records management, and open science principles.

Typical outputs include a full draft research data policy with all standard sections — scope, definitions, roles and responsibilities, data management planning requirements, storage and security standards, retention schedules, sharing and open access expectations, and breach reporting — as well as an accompanying policy summary for researchers, a FAQ document, and a gap analysis against funder requirements.

Ideal users include research office directors establishing a first institutional data policy, library teams reviewing and modernizing existing policies, and university governance committees that need a clear, legally sound framework. The assistant is also useful for research consortia that need to align data policies across multiple partner institutions.