Data Steward School 2025: Digital competencies for Open Science

From 7 to 11 July 2025, the University of Silesia will host Data Steward School 2025, bringing together 26 participants from 15 Polish universities and 14 leading research data management (RDM) experts from both Polish and international institutions.

The Data Steward School is a new initiative of the University of Silesia in Katowice, aimed at developing knowledge and digital competencies in research data management. Although this is the first edition organised by the University of Silesia, the program was originally developed in 2020 and implemented by Visnea Inc. until 2024. It is now delivered by the University under a licensing agreement.

The training is structured into three complementary parts:

• The core module is a five-day intensive course introducing participants to the research data lifecycle, as well as practices and standards in data management. One of the modules is specifically dedicated to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), highlighting its role in shaping the future of RDM in Europe
• The specialisation module offers an opportunity to deepen knowledge in a specific disciplinary context.
• Mentoring consists of one-on-one work with an expert, supporting participants in developing selected areas of competence through personalised guidance.

DSS 2025 Experts

The program is delivered by outstanding experts from the following institutions (in alphabetical order):

• ACK Cyfronet AGH (Poland)
• Czech Technical University in Prague (Czech Republic)
• Digital Curation Centre (United Kingdom)
• Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
• National Science Centre (Poland)
• Gdańsk University of Technology
• Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Centre
• Cracow University of Economics
• University of Silesia in Katowice
• Technical University of Vienna (Austria)
• Technical University of Berlin (Germany)
• World Values Survey Association (Austria)
• Visnea Inc. (Canada)

This year, DSS is held under the honorary patronage of the World Values Survey Association (WVSA). WVSA is one of the oldest and largest global survey research programs focused on human values and beliefs. Since 1981, WVSA has collected data on social and cultural change, building a series that spans over 40 years and includes data from more than 120 countries. This prestigious recognition highlights the vital role of Data Stewards in ensuring data quality and the responsible use of data in research of global relevance.