Merit Allocation Request Form
VicNode can fund the storage of research data collections that are of value to future research
activities through a merit-based scheme. The scheme is designed to support collaboration around
data and enable the sharing and re-use of data collections.
As a researcher, you can request to fund the storage of your collection if it is of value to other
research activities in Victoria and beyond. Furthermore, you can ask to fund the storage of
collections in Victoria that currently reside elsewhere nationally or internationally.
You can apply to have any collection hosted that meets the selection criteria, providing it is allowed
by copyright, ethics and other legal constraints. Anything goes, from crystallographic datasets and
genomics repositories, through to video archives, digitised historical texts and recordings of lost
languages.
This document is an application form for submitting a research data collection for consideration for
merit storage on VicNode under the ReDS Programme. The criteria and process followed for
awarding allocations on merit are described on the VicNode website.
The merit-based storage is funded under the Research Data Services (ReDS) programme, which is
part of the RDSI project.
By submitting this application, you verify that VicNode has the right to share the information
contained in this form with any people, institutions or systems involved in processing this
application, and that VicNode may retain this application.
To submit this application send it, along with any supporting material, to the VicNode Office:
vicnode-office@unimelb.edu.au.
This application is divided into seven sections:
Section 1: Contact Detail......................................................................................................................... 2
Section 2: Collection Details ................................................................................................................... 2
Section 3: Research Data Merit Support................................................................................................. 4
Section 4: Research Data Re-use ............................................................................................................ 4
Section 5: Collection Use ........................................................................................................................ 6
Section 6: Storage requirements and Milestones................................................................................... 7
Section 7: Technical Details .................................................................................................................... 8
Section 1: Contact Detail
Data Custodian
The storage requestor is Custodian/Steward of the collection, and is responsible for submitting this
application, as well as the day-to-day management of the collection. This role will be the primary
contact for administrative purposes.
Title
Given Name
Family Name
Email
Telephone
Role
Organisation
State
Authority
Please assert that you have verified that you have the authority to choose where this
collection will be hosted, understand the re-use conditions, and that you commit to
supporting the collection.
Yes/No
Technical Contact
The Technical Contact may be required to work with VicNode on technical issues related to this
application and its implementation. The Technical Contact may be the Data Custodian.
Title
Given Name
Family Name
Email
Telephone
Role
Organisation
State
Section 2: Collection Details
If an ANDS application has been previously completed for this collection, it will contain most of the
data required for this section.
Title and Description
The collection title should be as descriptive as possible so that it is meaningful to researchers from
other disciplines and into the future.
Collection Title
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The collection description will be used to assist discovery of your research data, and should be
similar to a journal article abstract. Write the description for a reader who has general familiarity
with the research area but is not a specialist—this will make data more accessible for crossdisciplinary use. Do not use specialist acronyms or jargon. Include important keywords within the
text—this will make the data more discoverable by search engines.
Collection Description
Discovery Metadata Records
Provide any persistent identifiers or URLs to existing collection-level metadata records, for example
a collection description in Research Data Australia (RDA) or a discipline portal. Add rows to the table
as required.
Provider
VicNode
URL
To be generated upon application success
Research Domain
List the Fields of Research (FOR) codes associated with this collection—ideally at the four or six-digit
level, to help with classification. Add rows to the table as required.
FOR Code(s)
Data Type
Identify which of the following describes the nature of the data in the collection, if any:
Observational data that is collected, curated and made available for general researcher
use
Generated data that is developed as an information product to underpin the research of
third party researchers
Aggregated data that is assembled by individuals or research communities in order to
make research questions more addressable
A mirror of international collections that are held locally, for purposes of improved
performance and reduced cost
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Anticipated Growth in the Collection
Select the best description and delete the other options. Complete the date if required.
Select the best descriptor for
the anticipated growth of the
collection. (Delete the options
that do no apply.)
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The collection is complete. No substantial changes to the
collection are anticipated.
The collection is currently growing and is expected to be
complete by MONTH YEAR.
The collection will be growing for the foreseeable future.
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Section 3: Research Data Merit Support
Merit Description
In 300 words or less, describe how this data collection is of national significance or valuable as an
input to future research. Include, briefly, the most relevant factors such as uniqueness, use as a
resource, quality, scope, completeness, possibility to recreate, etc …
Funding
Identify any grants that were used in the development of this collection. Add rows as required.
Funding Body
Reference /Grant Number
Grant Funding Year Range
Provide details of any Australian government funded research infrastructure that was used in the
generation of this collection (eg. NeCTAR, The Australian Synchrotron).
Peer Review of Data
If the collection has undergone a peer review process, please describe this process.
Publications
Identify significant publications from the past five years that use or reference this collection. Add
rows as required.
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1
2
Publications(s)
Section 4: Research Data Re-use
Access restrictions
Select which access restrictions will be placed on this collection.
Unrestricted access—Collection can be made freely available to all users
Restricted access—Collection can be made available to selected users
No access—Collection cannot be shared or released under any circumstances
due to ethical constraints
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Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
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Data Encumbrances
Identify and detail any encumbrances that limit the ability for the data to be shared while hosted on
VicNode.
Encumbrance
Publisher embargo
Privacy restrictions
Ethics clearance conditions
Copyright/IP Issues
Commercial sensitivity
No encumbrances on this data
Applies Date and/or Details
Yes/No DD/MM/YYYY
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
VicNode will not undertake any de-identification activities on any collection. If de-identification
activities are required, these are the responsibility of the data custodian, and must be undertaken
prior to loading the data into VicNode.
Licence
The Australian Government’s Open Access and Licencing Framework (AusGOAL) provides useful
information about copyright and the Licence Chooser tool to identify an appropriate licence for the
re-use of this collection.
Please identify any licences that cover the re-use of this collection.
Citations
How should this collection be cited when used by the research community?
The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research includes a requirement that
researchers cite other relevant work appropriately and accurately. You can assist this to occur by
specifying the manner in which the research data should be cited. The citation should include a
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or similar persistent identifier.
Re-use Metadata
Please indicate the format and location of re-use metadata associated with this collection. “Re-use”
refers to the details that would enable others to use the data, such as how the data was generated,
for example, instrument settings, reagents used and temperature.
Required Tools or Resources for Re-use
List the tools and specialist resources that would be required for access and re-use of this data.
Please note if copies of these tools can be stored with the data. Add rows as required.
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Tool or Resource
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Yes/No
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Tool or Resource
Can be Stored
Yes/No
Support
Describe any support that will be provided to researchers using the collection that are not directly
involved in its generation and management. Note that VicNode support will be limited to technical
issues with the VicNode common interface.
Hosted at other RDSI Nodes
Identify if this collection or a substantial part of this collection will be hosted at another RDSI node. If
yes, describe the purpose of hosting the data at multiple locations.
Node
NCI (Australian Capital Territory)
Intersect (New South Wales)
QCIF (Queensland)
eRSA (South Australia)
TPAC (Tasmania)
iVEC (Western Australia)
Hosted Purpose
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Section 5: Collection Usage
Front-end Interface for End-Users
VicNode provides a standard interface for end-users to access collections using the Vault or Market
Storage Types.
Data Custodians can provide their own interface for end-users to access their collections if preferred,
but the Data Custodian is responsible for providing and maintaining this interface.
For Computational Storage, data custodians must provide an interface for end-users to access the
collection. VicNode will only provide block storage to the chosen compute facility.
Will end-users be accessing the collection through the
VicNode standard interface?
Will end-users be accessing the collection through an
interface other than the VicNode standard interface?
If another interface will be used than the VicNode
standard interface, please specify what it will be:
Yes/No
Yes/No
Anticipated Users of the Collection
Who is the target audience* for
the collection?
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Estimate the number of
researchers who would access
and use this collection over a
one-year period. (Delete the
options that do no apply.)
10 users or fewer
50 users or fewer
100 users or fewer
500 users or fewer
1000 users or fewer
More than 1000 users
* Brief testimonials supporting this application can be attached to the email submission.
Usage
Indicate how often users will
access this collection. (Delete the
options that do not apply.)
Indicate how will users interact
with the collection. (Delete the
options that do not apply.)
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Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Ad-hoc
Download all of the collection
Download part of the collection
Unknown
Section 6: Storage requirements and Milestones
Data Storage Requirements
Identify the storage volume for your collection in gigabytes or terabytes, and the preferred storage
type. Detailed descriptions of each storage type are available on the VicNode website.
Current size of data
Expected total size
Vault (VST1)
GB/TB
GB/TB
Storage Types
Market (VST2)
GB/TB
GB/TB
Computational (VST3)
GB/TB
GB/TB
Ingest Milestones
Indicate either:
1. If the collection is complete and ready to be ingested now, OR
2. If the collection is growing, what the ingest milestone dates.
Note: All ingestion activities under the ReDS programme must be completed by 31 December 2014.
Vault (VST1)
Storage Types
Market (VST2)
Computational (VST3)
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
OR
Month and Year
Month and Year
Month and Year
Month and Year
OR
Month and Year
Month and Year
Month and Year
Month and Year
OR
Month and Year
Month and Year
Month and Year
Month and Year
Complete and ready
for ingest now
25% ingest milestone
50% ingest milestone
75% ingest milestone
100% ingest milestone
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Data Migration
What medium is currently used to store the data?
Is assistance required to migrate the data to VicNode?
Yes/No
Accessibility
Indicate when the collection will be accessible to third-party
researchers from VicNode.
Month and Year
Discovery
Indicate when collection-level metadata records will be discoverable
by third-party researchers.
Month and Year
Section 7: Technical Details
Computational Storage
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If Computational storage has been requested,
indicate with which service it should be coupled.
Delete options that do not apply.
HPC Edward
HPC MSG
MASSIVE
NeCTAR NSP
NeCTAR Research Cloud
VeRA (Monash University)
VLSCI
Other, please specify:
o
Data Format
Identify the format(s) of the data to be stored on VicNode:
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Data Loss Management
Will VicNode be hosting the only copy of the
collection?
If yes, how easily can the data be regenerated?
(Delete the options that do no apply.)
Yes/No
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Fully replaceable
Replaceable by equivalent data
Irreplaceable
Uncertain
What would be the impact and/or cost incurred
if data is lost?
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