Social Sciences Research Infrastructure Draft Project Plan Open for Feedback

We invite the research community to share their feedback on the Social Sciences research infrastructure draft project plan, which is part of the ARDC’s HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons.

We welcome feedback on the draft project plan via the form below until COB Thursday 18 July 2024:

• project plan [pdf] 
• workshop report

The Co-Design Process

Your feedback on the project plan is an important part of the co-design process, and we value your input.

We are following the co-design process described in the HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons Co-Design Framework, which is based on established methods such as the TACSI Co-Design Framework. 

The co-investment projects are being developed through the following steps: 

1. Problem Identification
2. Project Shaping
3. Project Planning
4. Endorsement. 

The ARDC has completed the Problem Identification phase over several years of extensive consultation and information-gathering activities. 

The Project Shaping phase was conducted through open co-design workshops held during April 2024 with the ARDC and partners. 

The first co-design workshop was held in partnership with the Academy for Social Sciences in Australia on the same day as the launch of the Decadal Plan for Social Science Research Infrastructure 2024-33. The draft Project Plan presented here responds to goals within the Decadal Plan. 

Eighty-three people registered for the workshops to design this project. The large number of participants enabled project teams and other participants to better understand the current digital research challenges faced by social sciences researchers. Through these workshops, the research communities identified their needs and the outcomes they wish to see achieved through the project, and informed ARDC and the project team about their requirements for potential solutions. You will find a report on the outcomes of the workshops below, alongside the project plan.

We’re now in the Project Planning phase, seeking community feedback on the draft project plan. 

The project plan presented here for feedback is an early draft. It represents the current state of the project plan, and it is likely to change as the project partners refine the plan and in response to feedback collected in this process. The project team is also consulting with other project teams on points where the different plans can align to create a stronger HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons. Furthermore, the project has further consultation and work with the community built into the specification of the work it is going to do over the coming 4 years to ensure ongoing input from the communities it is working to support through new and enhanced research infrastructure.

Once submissions close, the project plan will be updated, refined and finalised to incorporate feedback from the community. The final project plan will be released in the coming months, alongside a report addressing the feedback received in this phase. All published feedback will be anonymised. 

The final plan will be reviewed by the HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons Advisory Panel prior to endorsement.

The feedback period is short to enable us to take advantage of the significant investment in HASS and Indigenous research by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Later in 2024, we will conduct a co-design process to develop new project plans for the ARDC Community Data Lab. To be notified of these processes, please register your interest in the HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons.

Download the Draft Project Plan and Workshop Report

Please view the project plans and workshop reports:

• project plan [pdf] 
• workshop report

Feedback on the draft project plan has now closed. 

Learn more about the HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons.

ARDC respects the privacy of individuals. Information collected is in accordance with the ARDC Privacy Policy.

The ARDC is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers.