Quantifying the impact of workshops promoting microbiome data standards and data stewardship

Area of Science:

• Microbiome Research
• Data Science
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Microbiome research rapidly advances using multi-omics, but data comparability and reusability lag due to poor standards and data stewardship.
• Lack of standardized practices hinders reproducibility and data sharing in microbiome studies.
• The National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC) established an Ambassador Program to address these gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the NMDC Ambassador Program's community-learning model on microbiome data stewardship awareness and practices.
• To assess the effectiveness of workshops in training early-career researchers in data stewardship best practices.
• To quantify participant knowledge gain and willingness to apply learned principles.

Main Methods:

• The 2023 NMDC Ambassador cohort conducted 21 workshops, reaching over 550 researchers.
• An anonymous post-workshop survey was administered to 122 participants from 15 events.
• Survey data quantified training effectiveness, knowledge acquisition, and behavioral intentions regarding data stewardship.

Main Results:

• 98% of 122 surveyed researchers reported gaining knowledge from the workshops.
• Participants showed increased understanding of metadata standards, data management, and standardization importance.
• Respondents expressed strong willingness to implement data stewardship practices in their research.

Conclusions:

• Hands-on workshops and community-learning effectively disseminate microbiome data stewardship best practices.
• The NMDC Ambassador Program model successfully enhances awareness and application of data management principles.
• Lessons learned can guide the development of similar educational initiatives in microbiome research.