Environmental Data Service (EDS) staff are experts in the collection of scientific information, state-of-the-art data management and preservation techniques, resulting in a high quality and important national asset available to all.

We provide advice and guidance to data creators at all stages of the data lifecycle, from research data management planning through to data deposit, data publication and data citation. We can also help you meet funder and journal requirements as well as making your data more FAIR.

Whether your grant has not yet started, is coming to an end, or even finished, contact one of our Environmental Data Centres below for domain specific advice and guidance, or click on our help beacon to contact us directly.

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Depositing data with an appropriate repository

Researchers in receipt of NERC funding must offer their data to a NERC Environmental Data Centre for long-term curation, but how do you do this in practice? Click our help beacon to browse our collection of guidance documents and FAQs. We can provide help and guidance on which repository is most suitable for your data and how to prepare your data for deposit.

Making your data citeable 

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) can be minted for your data which allows it to become citeable. This means that you can cite your data in any articles you publish and anyone who re-uses your data can also cite it, ensuring you get credit for the data you have generated. The EDS guarantees that the DOI will link to a description of your data in perpetuity, supporting the scientific process and the transparency of your research.

Compliance with legal, funder and publisher requirements 

We can support your research data management planning to ensure that your grant, project or programme meets its legal and funder requirements (for example, NERC data policy, BBSRC, INSPIRE, FoI/EIR). We can also ensure that you meet journal publisher requirements for accessibility to data that forms the basis of your publications. 

Accessing cutting-edge tools

The EDS has developed a range of cutting-edge tools and services to enable you to analyse, visualise and link your data in new and exciting ways. We can help you get started with accessing and using these tools and even provide training or demonstrations where required.

Our Data Centres