R: Drive (research data storage)
All researchers and research students are eligible for free access to central storage space which is secure and backed up.
Your storage can be shared with others (supervisors, teams, groups etc.) allowing you to collaborate on data and share documents and files.
Benefits of using R: drive
- Safety and security - greater than desktop storage or portable USB storage.
- Convenience - provided and managed by the University, including backups and maintenance of hardware.
- Collaboration - enables researchers and students to share data and collaborate on the same project, reducing duplicate copies and effort in transferring/emailing.
- Retention - keep your research data in the long term, either to building a repository of your valuable data or to meet retention requirements (minimum 5 years after project).
- Supervision - can retain Higher Degree Research project data centrally reducing risk of loss to supervisors and students.
Why you should use R: drive
Using VU storage is the easiest way to address digital data security, backup and long term retention requirements under the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. Discipline-recognised research repositories and data archives are potential alternatives.
A completed Research Data & Materials Plan (DOCX, 241.62 KB) is now necessary for you and the University to meet the following requirements:
Get access to R: drive
To gain access, complete the Research Data & Materials Plan form (DOCX, 241.62 KB) (which includes a storage application form). The form covers many possibilities, so fill out what you can (some of the fields are optional as they may not apply to your research).
If you've already completed the Research Data & Materials Plan, but not applied for storage, either submit an updated version or contact the Research office. We'll notify you once you have access.
How it works
Storage allocations are predominantly given to research projects (e.g. grants, contracts, student projects, unfunded projects). This allows for different periods of retention and different access groups. You can also apply for allocations for research programs/groups to share common data across programs of research.
Each storage allocation appears as a folder in an R: drive when you log on to a VU computer (remote and offline access is possible). You can have access to more than one project, with each appearing as a separate folder.
The storage can be used for anything from working files, documents and records, to long term retention of research data/files. The default allocation for a project is 10 GB and more is available on request.
Special storage requirements
If your research program has special requirements that you’d like to discuss please contact the eResearch team.
The research storage has also been used for creating read-only repositories, research data collections for teaching purposes, published downloadable datasets and instrument based data collection.
Contact us
Refer to the R: drive FAQ for more about how to use the R: drive.
If you have any other questions, contact the eResearch team or your College Librarian.