The Autumn Data School was held in Lecce, Italy on 13-15 November 2023. It was co-organised by EMODnet Biology and LifeWatch ERIC, as both share the vision for OPEN and FAIR Marine Research Data. From HCMR and the IMBBC, Mrs Dimitra MAVRAKI, Mr Ioannis RALLIS and Mrs Melina LOULAKAKI and as external collaborator Dr Vasilis GEROVASILEIOU participated in the Autumn Data School as organisers and trainers.
The 3-day Workshop took the form of an “Autumn School”. The first two days were organized as a DATAthon. The DATAthon focused on transferring knowledge on data management best practices (from the collection of the dataset until its publication). Participants from Tunisia, Algeria and Italy brought their own dataset to work on and followed all the steps up to its final submission to Marine Research Data Repositories, such as MedOBIS, with the focus on facilitating its reuse. The third day focused on training participants how to use Citizen Science platforms, such as Zooniverse and the LifeWatch Citizen Science Platform. The purpose of this Training Session was to create a Citizen Science project and engage volunteers in the historical data rescue and standardization process.
The Autumn Data School successfully met its main objectives, which were:
a) bringing together Researchers from the Mediterranean Region and specifically from North African countries and start creating a steady communication and data collaboration channel between them,
b) sharing best practices on data standardization and data publication on open Research Infrastructures and finally
c) covering the data gap that exists for the Mediterranean Region, by welcoming Researchers to bring and share during this 3 full-day Workshop their own marine biodiversity datasets.