CAS FDM or: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Data – Outline and Insights into the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Research Data Management offered by the State Initiative bwFDM

Trained specialists are essential for the further establishment of research data management. To this end, more and more (part-time) further education programmes are being created. For example, since the beginning of October 2025, 19 experts have been passing on their collective knowledge to nearly 20 participants as part of the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Research Data Management (CAS FDM). This offering is provided by bwFDM, the state Initiative for Research Data Management in Baden-Württemberg. Here, the data love sparks not only in areas such as data organisation, law and ethics and technical infrastructure, but in sharing and organising this love through consulting, teaching, and project management. Roughly six months in and more than half of the 26 lessons behind us, we take stock of what we learned during that time. Beyond that, we shall provide some insights into the essential groundwork of establishing the framework necessary for spreading our data love in structured, organised, and certified ways. The presentation's content is CC-BY (see metadata), unless stated otherwise.