Subject of the agreement is the entire uploaded research dataset and associated metadata from the data provider to the FDAT repository.
The parties to this agreement, the individual providing research data and the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (represented by the IKM, hereinafter referred to as the repository operator), agree that the data provided will be used under the conditions outlined below.
With the research data repository FDAT, the University of Tübingen provides all researchers at the university with a technical platform for the structured and permanent preservation, documentation and publication of their research data based on the FAIR Data Principles.
Research data is made available on a long-term basis, provided with descriptive metadata, promotes exchange and accessibility, ensures reference and citability, and meets the requirements of third-party funding bodies and good scientific practice.
The repository is not suitable as a storage location for working copies of data used on a daily basis.
The FDAT service is offered free of charge to members of the University of Tübingen.
The operator reserves the right to reject the inclusion of data and other materials if there are concerns about the legal admissibility of archiving and/or publication. If the operator becomes aware of any unlawful use or violation of legal requirements after publication, they reserve the right to block or remove the affected data from the repository independently.
All accepted data records will be published through the repository and will be assigned a persistent identifier (DOI), making the data uniquely referenceable and citable.
The uploaded data will not be subject to scientific review by the repository operator itself. However, the operator will implement a peer review-based data curation methodology, in which project-affiliated data curators will take on this task.
The guaranteed minimum duration of archiving for research data is 10 years, which is in line with the recommendations of the German Research Foundation in the context of ensuring good scientific practice.
The operator is continuously developing FDAT and reserves the right to adapt the service both technically and organizationally, and to discontinue operation at any time or replace it with another service. If FDAT is discontinued, data, metadata, and other materials will be retained for the remaining agreed period of time.
The operator will not alter the data content uploaded to the repository. No migration to new file formats will take place, instead, the so-called bitstream preservation method will be applied. However, the permanent usability and interpretability of the data cannot be guaranteed, as it depends on the availability of the necessary software to read the data. The operator reserve the right to convert the data other file formats; the original data will be preserved in this case.
Data and metadata in FDAT will be stored on long-term storage hardware provided by the Computing Center of the University. All data will be backed up and kept in multiple copies in spatially separated locations (geo-redundancy). The operator reserves the right to move the data to other servers under their control.
The data provider assures that it holds the rights to use the data and grants a non-exclusive right to use the transferred digital data sets and documents for an unlimited period of time to the repository operator immediately upon transmission, in particular
The data provider also agrees that the descriptions (metadata) of the research data may be published under a Creative Commons CC0 license and passed on to other metadata harvesting repository systems. The data provider's copyrights will be preserved, allowing the data to be handed over to other institutions for archiving or publication.
By transferring data to FDAT, the data provider assures that the data and additional materials to be made available without special access authorization do not violate legal regulations, are free of third-party rights, and comply with relevant data protection regulations. In particular, personal data containing information on an individual level must be anonymized in such a way that individual identification is excluded (falsification). The data provider shall indemnify the operator from all claims of third parties, including all costs of legal defense and prosecution.
The data provider is responsible for determining the completeness and integrity of their data.
The withdrawal of already published data by the data provider is generally not intended. In justified exceptional cases (e.g., faulty files, legal issues), data can be withdrawn after consultation with the operator. However, some corresponding minimal metadata may continue to be publicly available and the DOI assigned to the data may continue to resolve to the FDAT repository with a reference to the withdrawal of the data.
The University of Tübingen, as the publisher of research data, generally favors unrestricted access to publicly funded research data (Open Data). If restricted access or an embargo is chosen, the reasons for this must be stated. In all cases, the descriptions of the research data (metadata) may be directly accessible and searchable via the internet.
The contract may be terminated by either party at any time with 6 months' notice for good cause, in particular if obligations under this contract have not been complied with despite a reminder. Contract termination must be in writing and must state the reasons for termination. The deletion of data and metadata from the repository will be completed in a timely manner, depending on the resources of the operator and the amount of data, respectively. Upon request, the data provider may have the data and metadata exported for their own purposes prior to deletion. If a Creative Commons license has been selected, rights of use for the benefit of the general public will continue to exist after the end of the contract.
In the event of data loss or damage, the repository operator will keep backup copies and make them available if required. Any further liability is excluded.
The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply. The place of jurisdiction is Tübingen.