b. Perform your research

When doing research you will need time and effort in searching and using scientific literature and, in some cases, finding suitable data sources.

Literature sources

The digital library is your starting point for finding scientific information about your research topic. You can use the FindUT search tool to discover the collection of the UT library, most of it full text online available. Furthermore the digital library presents an overview of available literature databases and other (scientific) information sources. There is also an advice section about searching for scientific information per discipline. 

Data sources

To discover data relevant for your research have a look at the following portals and/or data providers:

During your research the collected or generated data need to be stored safely. Moreover, you often want to share or in some cases collaborate on the data with fellow researchers.

Storing and sharing of and collaborating on data refers to its dynamic phase during the research project. As soon as your research datasets are stable and static they can be archived for long-term preservation. For more information see: preserving research data.

Storing and sharing research data

The data you collect, generate and use during your research are a valuable asset. At any cost you should avoid loss, theft or unauthorized access to these data. Therefore, in principle all research data, including related materials (e.g. protocols, models or questionnaires), must be stored in the ISO 27001- and NEN 7510-certified UT storage facilities. 

Copies for sharing or collaborating can also be stored on other facilities. In any case, never use the local drive on your laptop or computer as the main storage medium for research data.

More details, including a help functionality for choosing the best storing and sharing solution for your research data, can be found on the research data management page.

If you have lost personal or confidential data (data breach), please check the Cyber Safety page.

Collaborating on research data

When you need to collaborate on data or documents you can use web-based, collaborative platforms offered by the UT: e.g. Sharepoint, Surfdrive, Google-workspace (aka G-Suite), Onedrive, or Microsoft Teams. 

When collaborating it is important to have a Version Control System (VCS) or DevOps system like GitHub/Gitlab for tracking changes in computer files and coordinating work on those files among multiple people. It consists of a client and a server. It is primarily used for source code management in software development, but it can be used to keep track of the changes in any set of (text)files. For more information see the Systems for Version Control and Devops (Gitlab) page.

Selecting the best UT facility

Use this tool to find the best facility for handling research data during your research.

For support contact the data steward in your faculty or send your question to the Research Support Desk.

Especially when research data are to be considered as confidential, for instance in case of personal or sensitive information, data security is needed. When you are processing personal data you need to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in Dutch: the Algemene Verordening Gegevensbescherming (AVG).

Relevant issues are for instance how to avoid data loss or theft, or unauthorized access to research data. In many cases encryption is strongly advised, both of the device (e.g. your computer harddrive) and the data files. 

Pseudonymization or anonymization is needed when working with personal data. In short, pseudonymization is a method to substitute identifiable data with a reversible, consistent value. Anonymization is the destruction of the identifiable data.

For more information see the Research data management page.

When processing research data you may need specific infrastructure, computing services, and software.  Furthermore, data labs and data visualization can offer you a solution to certain data analysis demands. 

Compute servers

If you need to perform computer calculations during your research and you are unable to run these on your own system, there are a number of possibilities.

For information described in the columns see the text in the list below:

• JupyterLab: are you an UT employee, teacher or student and you are looking for an environment where you can easily gain knowledge or use various programming languages for prototyping, education, research or self-study. Then use UT-JupyterLab environment;
• Docker container / Kubernetes cluster: are you a UT employee and do you have an application in the form of a docker container / image and are you looking for a place to run it? Then request resources in our Kubernetes cluster.
• Virtual Research Environment (VRE). When you are looking for a flexible, efficient and scalable infrastructure for simulations and computations, you can make use of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE). For more information and support, see this link or you can visit the VRE-Portal directly;
• Buying your own IT-Equipment. In case you have budget for purchasing your own IT equipment for High Performance computing (HPC), contact the ICT account manager of your faculty for advice about and support for setup, maintenance and housing.
• Hiring computing capacity at SURFsara. SURFsara is the Dutch national supercomputing organization that facilitates high performance computing infrastructure. For large computer calculations you can submit an application (funding/grant) for SURFSara HPC-capacity to NWO.
• Cloud computing using Azure or Amazon. Instead of using a VRE you can choose to use cloud computing such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon's Web Services (AWS). If you want more information about cloud computing and the possibilities for UT researchers contact the ICT account manager of your faculty.

Research software

When you need to develop software for your research you can get support from the Netherlands eScience Center, the Dutch national center of excellence for the development and application of research software to advance academic research.

Research labs

For data processing researchers can also make use of specific research labs.

Data visualization

Visualization makes it easy to identify connections between data or gain other insight into your datasets. SURFsara offers a powerful remote visualization service that combines high performance with ease of use.

When you need to organize an event, such as a symposium or conference, you can get support from CongresAssociatie Twente.

Making and publishing proceedings

For making digitally available contributions to a symposium, workshop or conference organized by you or the organization you represents, a suitable platform is UT proceedings. You can choose to make these contributions available before or after the event. Especially if you want to make the contributions available before the event, pleadse be aware of the planning of depositing and ingest of the publications.

For support contact the information specialist of your faculty or send your question to the Research Support Desk.