Metadata plays a critical role in enabling researchers to discover, understand, and reuse data. However, there is little formal training on the topic, and so the value of metadata and its role in supporting FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data practices is not fully realised in the research community.For several years, CLOSER - the UK’s interdisciplinary partnership of leading social and biomedical longitudinal population studies - have been developing and delivering metadata training. Like many training initiatives, this training was initially developed based on our assumptions of the audience’s prior knowledge and needs. To ensure that our training is appropriately targeted and useful, we conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with master’s and PhD students at University College London to understand their perceptions and use of metadata. The findings showed that most students were unfamiliar with metadata or the FAIR principles (although some recognised that they had unknowingly engaged with or created metadata once an explanation was provided), but there was a keen appetite for training on this topic.Insights from these interviews have directly informed CLOSER’s new metadata training offer. We have developed two courses - Introductory and Foundation - which aim to equip postgraduate students, researchers, data stewards, data managers, funders, and policymakers with the knowledge and skills required to understand, engage with, and create metadata. These courses will be circulated for review in 2026 to gain further feedback.This presentation will outline CLOSER’s experience in developing and delivering metadata training, share findings from our qualitative research on students' understanding and use of metadata, and introduce our new metadata training courses shaped by this research.
Alioto et al. (Thu,) studied this question.