Research data policies of Vilnius University and the main research funders

Vilnius University

In 2016, Vilnius University adopted the Vilnius University Guidelines for Scientific Research Data Management (text currently available only in Lithuanian).

Key aspects:

• Research data management plans are prepared in compliance with requirements set out by the funding institutions or other sources.
• Research data should be made publicly available, unless it was established otherwise.
• Research data should be submitted for storage in MIDAS with a possibility for reuse, unless a funding institution or other sources establish otherwise.
• Published research data should be assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
• An exclusive right to use or disseminate scientific research data cannot be licensed to publishers or their authorised persons.

Also see Using personal data for research purposes.

The position of Vilnius University regarding research data is outlined in the Vilnius University Open Science Policy (text currently available only in Lithuanian). 

Research Council of Lithuania (until 2025)

Projects funded by the Research Council of Lithuania should follow the Council's Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Data.

Key aspects:

• Research data management plans are mandatory.
• Upon the end of the project, the data generated in the course of the project must be transferred for storage at the institution and/or to a repository.
• The data must be preserved for a period no shorter than 5 years following the completion of the project.
• Data underlying the scientific publications produced by the project must be made openly accessible at the same time as the publications.
• The data must be linked to the associated publications.

Calls launched before 1 January 2025 will continue to be subject to the Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Data, the validity of which has been extended until the end of 2028.

Research Council of Lithuania (from 2025 onwards)

Research Council of Lithuania calls announced after 1 January 2025 will follow the the Description of the Procedure for Open Access to the Research and Development Results (Atvirosios prieigos prie mokslinių tyrimų ir eksperimentinės plėtros rezultatų tvarkos aprašas).

Key aspects:

• Research data must be deposited in a trusted repository and assigned a persistent identifier.
• The metadata of research data must be open, accessible, findable and machine readable.
• Research data must be managed and shared in line with the FAIR principles.
• Open access to research data shall be implemented in accordance with the principle of “as open as possible, as closed as necessary” (effective from 1 January 2030).
• If a research publication is based on data, the metadata of the data underlying the publication must be open and include a link to the publication (effective from 1 January 2030).
• Research data funded from the national budget must be made available to interested parties, providing equal opportunities, rights and obligations (effective from 1 January 2030).

The Research Council of Lithuania also requires a data management plan, which has to be submitted either with the project proposal or when signing the grant agreement.

Horizon 2020 (2014-2020)

In Horizon 2020, specific data management regulations apply only to projects participating in Open Research Data (ORD) Pilot.

Participants of the ORD Pilot must:

• present and regularly update a data management plan for their project;
• deposit the data in a research data repository and provide access to it under the principle "as open as possible, as closed as necessary";
• provide information about tools and instruments at the disposal of the beneficiaries and necessary for validating the results.

It is recommended that the data deposited in an open access repository is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International Public License (CC BY) or Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0).

More information on the Horizon 2020 ORD Pilot research data requirements can be found in the Horizon 2020 Annotated Model Grant Agreement.

Horizon Europe (from 2021 onwards)

Research data management in accordance with Open Science principles is mandatory for all projects. The project team’s competences and achievements in the field of Open Science are evaluated together with the funding application.

The Grant Agreement obliges the beneficiary to:

• establish and regularly update the project’s data management plan;
• as soon as possible and within the deadlines set out in the data management plan, deposit the data in a trusted repository and ensure open access to the data under the Creative Commons Attribution International Public License (CC BY) or Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0) following the principle "as open as possible as closed as necessary";
• describe the data with sufficient metadata and provide information about any research output or any other tools and instruments needed to re-use or validate the data;
• to make the metadata of deposited data accessible under a Creative Common Public Domain Dedication (CC0) or equivalent.

It is recommended that deposited data and associated metadata follow the FAIR principles for research data.

It is permitted that the data remain closed if open access to the data would:

• contradict personal data or other security requirements;
• be against the beneficiary’s legitimate interests, including regarding commercial exploitation;
• be contrary to any other constraints or the beneficiary’s obligations under the Grant Agreement.

For more information, see the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement and the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.