The PARTHENOS project has launched the PARTHENOS Training Suite, a collection of materials to support training in Digital Research Infrastructures. The Training Suite, available online through the PARTHENOS website, builds on existing knowledge within the cluster of partners in the PARTHENOS project.

Infrastructures are contributing in a unique way to the research culture in Europe, but such initiatives have long maintained only a limited presence in forming the next generation of researchers through training and education. The PARTHENOS partners are changing this paradigm with the launch of the PARTHENOS Training Suite.

Intended audience

The materials included in the suite are not intended to replicate digital humanities (DH) skills training offered in formal and informal outlets elsewhere, but instead to expose some of the unique knowledge generated within research infrastructures. The intended audience for these materials is broad, including

• DH trainers looking to incorporate a greater awareness of infrastructure into their own teaching;
• self-learners from the research, cultural heritage or development communities curious about the context of work in an infrastructure;
• infrastructure-based researchers and professionals looking to deepen their understanding of their work context;
• through to policy makers and institutional leaders wanting to make more informed decisions about supporting access to research infrastructure.

Timely and important

The leader of the PARTHENOS work on Skills, Professional Development and Advancement, Dr Jennifer Edmond, said of the new materials: ”I think this is both a timely and important body of material, and we are thrilled to be able to make is public and open for reuse.  Too often we think of DH training as something that happens in the universities – but research infrastructures expose very different perspectives on the research work we do, and these perspectives should be a part of the knowledge base any young researcher has access to.”

Three topics

For the release, the materials focus on three topics: “Introduction to Research Infrastructures”, “Management Challenges in Research Infrastructures” and “Introduction to Collaborations in Research Infrastructures.”  Within these modules, a wide variety of materials are available, from video lectures and presentation slides, exercises and explanations of key principles, brochures and sample syllabi. This is just the beginning, however, as the suite will continue to grow over the next two years, adding new modules, new perspectives and new material from the PARTHENOS community and beyond. 

The PARTHENOS Training materials can be accessed at training.parthenos-project.eu