FAQ
Find answers to common questions you may have as a researcher at AAU.
Copyright Law
Check the dos & don'ts of Copyright Law before you publish or otherwise go public with your research.
Research registration and profiles
Pure is Aalborg University's research information system, where researchers register and manage information about their research activities, publications, projects, and profiles.
Aalborg University’s Research Portal VBN is the public-facing website that displays information from Pure and makes AAU's research visible to external audiences. Both are supported by the VBN Team.
Research information registered in Pure supports research visibility, reporting, analyses, and presentation in Aalborg University's Research Portal VBN. It is mandatory to register your publications in Pure.
Your researcher profile is managed through Pure, where you can update profile information, research activities, publications, projects, and other relevant content.
Keeping your Pure profile updated, ensuring that your research outputs are correctly registered, and making publications Open Access where possible can help increase visibility and accessibility.
Link your profile to other relevant profiles such as ORCID, Scopus and Google Scholar.
ORCID is an identifier that distinguishes you from all other researchers. It is a unique and internationally acknowledged researcher ID. It is easy to create and connect an ORCID to your VBN profile
Researchers at Aalborg University can register and show the entire research process - from an application to a grant and to the project based on the specific grant. Other content can be related to the project in order show and report the project output.
Visit our guide on how to register funding and research projects
Publications and Open Access
A publication strategy helps you make informed decisions about where and how to publish your research. It can support compliance with funder and Open Access requirements, increase the visibility of your research, and help you reach relevant academic and non-academic audiences.
Open Access means that research publications are freely available online for everyone to read and access without subscription barriers.
Depending on the publisher and journal, you may be able to publish Open Access directly, use one of AAU's Open Access agreements, or upload an approved manuscript version to Aalborg University’s Research Portal VBN.
In many cases, yes. AAU participates in a number of national Open Access agreements that allow researchers to publish Open Access in selected journals without paying publication fees themselves.
You can use the Journal Finder Tool to find a journal and check if it is covered by one of the national Open Access agreements.
For journal articles and conference proceedings that are not published Open Access, researchers are generally required to upload an Accepted Author Manuscript.
AAU OPEN is Aalborg University's competence unit and publishing platform for Open Access. It supports researchers with Open Access publishing and promotes open scholarly communication.
Visit the AAU OPEN website here
Data Management
Research data refers to any information collected during a study or experiment that is used to support or refute a hypothesis. It can take many forms, such as numerical data, images, audio recordings, or written notes, and is typically analyzed to draw conclusions and make discoveries.
What counts as research data will therefore depend on your research field and the methods you use.
Data management is about handling, documenting and understanding your research data throughout its life cycle. This includes planning, collection and processing, as well as publication and archiving.
Good data management supports responsible conduct of research and helps make your work more time-efficient, reproducible and secure. It also means considering technical, ethical, organisational, structural and sustainability-related aspects of your data early in the research process.
As a researcher at Aalborg University, you are required to manage your research data in accordance with AAU’s policy for research data management. This includes planning how data will be handled, documented, stored, shared, preserved or deleted throughout the research process.
You should start thinking about data management when planning your research and before you begin collecting or creating data.
Considering your data needs early makes it easier to choose suitable systems and tools, plan how data should be organised and documented, and identify any requirements related to storage, security, sharing or preservation. Creating a data management plan (DMP) can help you structure these considerations from the beginning and keep track of them throughout the project.
Your approach to data management should then be reviewed and adjusted as your project develops.
What you need to consider about data management depends on where you are in the research process. Throughout the project, the aim is to make sure that your research data is managed, documented, stored and handled appropriately.
When planning your research, you should create a data management plan (DMP) that describes how you expect to manage your data throughout the project, including how it will be collected, stored, documented, shared and preserved.
Read more about data management plans here
While conducting your research, for example when collecting, processing or analysing data, you should regularly consider whether your DMP needs to be updated. You should also make sure that the digital tools and systems you use are suitable for your data and can support your work efficiently. At AAU, you have access to different tools for areas such as data collection, storage, analysis, collaboration and computing.
Read more about managing active research data here
When your research data is finalised, you should consider whether and how the data can be published or shared. This includes choosing a suitable repository and considering documentation, metadata, access conditions and opportunities for reuse.
Read more about publishing finalised research data here
When your research project ends, you should make sure that your data is properly offboarded from systems used during the active project and decide which data should be preserved, for how long and where.
A data management plan (DMP) describes how you will manage your research data throughout your project. It typically covers areas such as the types of data you work with, how data will be stored and documented, who can access it, how it may be shared, and what should happen to the data when the project ends.
A DMP helps you make important decisions about your data early, keep an overview throughout the project and document how your research data is managed. It is a living document and should be updated if your project, data or data management practices change.
As a researcher at Aalborg University, you are required to create a data management plan for your research project.
FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. The FAIR principles are international guidelines for good data management practice and are used as a framework for working with research data.
Working according to FAIR can, for example, involve describing your data with clear documentation and metadata, using suitable file formats and standards, and making it clear how others can access and reuse the data where possible.
FAIR does not mean that all research data must be openly available. Data can still be FAIR even when access needs to be restricted, for example because it contains sensitive or confidential information.
As a researcher at Aalborg University, you can get help with data management and questions related to research data from CLAAUDIA. We offer both 1:1 guidance and workshops for your research group, department or faculty.
High-Performance Computing (HPC)
High-performance computing (HPC) gives you access to more computing power and digital tools than a standard computer can provide. It can help make research tasks faster and easier and gives you the capacity to work with larger amounts of data or more computationally demanding tasks.
HPC can support many different types of research tasks across academic disciplines. You can use it for anything from transcription, text analysis and working with large datasets to simulations, machine learning, AI and other computationally demanding tasks.
Which possibilities are available depends on the HPC platform you use and the needs of your research.
As a researcher at AAU, you can access several HPC platforms depending on your research needs, data classification and required computing resources. These include:
- UCloud: A user-friendly platform that gives you access to computing power and a wide range of digital tools directly through your web browser. It can also be used for working with sensitive data.
- AI Cloud: Gives you access to powerful GPUs for computationally demanding research tasks, such as AI and machine learning, that require more computing power than a standard computer can provide.
- TAAURUS: A secure and flexible HPC platform designed for research that involves sensitive data or has high requirements for information security. It combines computing power, secure data storage and controlled access.
- Strato: A flexible HPC platform that lets you create your own customisable virtual computer in the cloud when you need extra computing power for your research.
- External HPC: Access to national and European computing resources, including Danish HPC facilities such as Computerome, GenomeDK and Sophia, as well as European supercomputing resources such as LUMI.
The right platform depends on what you want to do, the type of data you are working with and how much computing power you need. Use the HPC Decision Tree for a guided recommendation or the HPC Comparison Table to compare the different options.
Not necessarily. Some HPC platforms are designed to be easy to use and give you access to pre-installed applications through a graphical interface, while others require experience with programming or command-line tools. This means there are options for both beginners and more experienced users.
If you are unsure which HPC platform best matches your needs or technical experience, CLAAUDIA can help you find the right option.
Yes, but you need to choose a platform that is approved for the classification of data you are working with. For example, UCloud and TAAURUS can be used for sensitive data. Always check the requirements for the individual platform before getting started.
Find the AAU data classification model here
Find an overview of which data classifications some of the different systems are approved for here
How you get access depends on the platform and the resources you need. You can find information about access, requirements and how to get started on the AAU HPC website.
Contact CLAAUDIA if you have questions, need help choosing the right HPC platform, need support with onboarding and getting started, or experience problems with one of the platforms.
Digital Tools
As a researcher at AAU, you have access to a range of digital tools and platforms that can support different parts of your research process. These include tools for planning and documenting data management, collecting and managing research data, secure file transfer, long-term data storage and preservation, surveys and more. For example, AAU researchers have access to DataDeposit, AAU FileSender, DeiC DMP and REDCap.
You also have access to tools for AI, data processing and analysis. For example, Mistral AI provides access to a chatbot-based language model and can also be integrated into research workflows through API access.
On UCloud, you can access a range of applications and computing resources for tasks such as recording and transcribing audio, working with programming environments, analysing data, using language models and carrying out computationally demanding research tasks.
Explore the digital tools available for researchers at AAU here
Digital tools can support many different tasks throughout your research process. They can, for example, help you collect and organise data, analyse large datasets, collaborate with others, transcribe audio, run surveys, work with programming environments or use AI.
They can also help make research tasks easier and more efficient. For example, AI tools can be used for tasks such as transcription, image and video annotation, or creating a digital assistant that can retrieve information from your own documents.
Read more about how digital tools can support your research here
The right tool depends on what you want to do, the type of data you are working with and any requirements related to data security and classification.
You can use AAU’s overview of digital tools to explore tools based on your research needs.
If you are unsure which solution is right for you, you can contact CLAAUDIA for guidance.
No. Not all tools are suitable for sensitive data. You should always choose a system that matches the classification of your data.
Find an overview of different systems at Aalborg University and their data classifications here
Yes. As a researcher at AAU, you have access to different AI tools that can support your research and make research tasks faster and easier. These can be used for tasks such as transcription, annotation, coding, text generation and working with your own research material. You can also access chatbot-based AI tools and, for some services, use API access to integrate AI into your own research workflows.
In addition, AAU provides access to computing resources and platforms that can support more computationally demanding AI work, such as training models, working with large datasets or running AI applications.
Find AI tools (and other digital tools) that can support your research here
Find computing resources for working with AI here
When using AI tools, you should always consider the type of data you are working with and make sure that the tool or platform is approved for the relevant data classification.
You can contact CLAAUDIA for support and guidance if you are unsure which tool is suitable for your research data or your specific workflow.
You can get support for the digital tools mentioned on this page through CLAAUDIA via the Service Portal.