New data management coordinator at NAT: "I want to make it easy for the researchers!"

FAIR principles, pseudonymization of sensitive data, and data classification are terms that can cause a sweat. Research data management might seem like a daunting or overwhelming task, but fortunately, help is available.

Starting April 1, Jesper Lykkegaard Karlsen will take on the new role of Data Management Coordinator at the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

"I'm excited! I hope that I can make a difference in the work with data management across the board so that it can work really well at Nat," he says.

Jesper Lykkegaard Karlsen comes from a position at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, where he has worked with scientific computing, including high-performance computing and data management. He will continue at the department, but from April 1, he will also be found in the faculty secretariat two days a week in his new role as Data Management Coordinator.

In this role, Jesper Lykkegaard Karlsen will act as a coordinating link between AU's central data management efforts, Open Science, and the Institutes at Nat.

This includes acting as the leader of Nat's data management forum, advising the dean and faculty management regarding data management, and touring the institutes to inform about the new digital data storage system ERDA/SIF and conducting workshops on it.

Jesper Lykkegaard Karlsen looks forward to starting work and has already begun the first ERDA/SIF workshops.

"Because I have both a scientific and technical background, I really want to go out to the researchers and hear what they are working on, what challenges they have, and how I can help them. I am service-minded and want to make things easy for the individual researcher. It shouldn't be unnecessarily difficult - not even data management," he says.

From April 1, Jesper Lykkegaard Karlsen can be contacted at dm.support@nat.au.dk for questions and guidance regarding data management.