The roles and responsibilities associated with Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) data management plans (DMPs) are outlined below.

EERE

Beginning Oct. 1, 2015, EERE will ensure that the requirements for data management plans are included in all solicitations and invitations for research funding, with details about how and when a data management plan should be submitted, and ensure that all of its funded research activities have a DMP.

EERE will ensure that DMPs are appropriately reviewed and that the evaluation of the DMPs takes into account the relative values of long-term preservation and access and the associated cost and administrative burden.

EERE will assess the long-term needs for data sharing, beginning about three years after this policy goes into effect, to allow time for the completion of research activities with associated DMPs. This will provide a venue for evaluating the impact of the DMP requirements on data sharing and preservation practices on the various research communities.

Respondents to EERE Research Funding Solicitations

All research activities funded by EERE must include a DMP that meets the requirements stated in this policy.

Respondents will be required to submit a DMP and should consult the relevant requirements in the solicitation for full details, including when the DMP is required. In most cases, a DMP will be required as part of the overall research proposal.

Recipients of EERE Research Funding

The DMP is part of the overall conditions of the funded research and, as such, it is expected that researchers will follow, to the best of their ability, the proposed research and associated DMP. Failure to do so may negatively influence future funding opportunities of the recipient.

EERE-sponsored research activities at the DOE national laboratories for which an EERE-approved DMP does not already exist will be required to develop a DMP. In most cases, the DMP will be requested as part of the next peer review organized by the EERE-sponsoring technology office.