How can research data be made easier to find, understand and reuse? This question was at the centre of a seminar hosted by the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS on 9 June 2026, as part of its OSIRIS and institutional research integrity activities.

The one-hour seminar brought together approximately 80 researchers and staff members for a presentation by Valentina Pasquale from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. Entitled “Dai dati ai dati FAIR: l’approccio dell’Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia”—“From Data to FAIR Data: the approach of the Italian Institute of Technology”—the seminar introduced the institute’s approach to FAIR research data.

What makes data FAIR?

Research generates valuable data, but that value can be difficult to realise if the data cannot be found, understood or used by others. The FAIR principles address this challenge by encouraging data to be:

  • Findable: easy to discover by people and digital systems.
  • Accessible: accompanied by clear information about how they can be accessed.
  • Interoperable: organised and described in ways that allow them to be combined with other data.
  • Reusable: documented sufficiently for others to understand and use them appropriately.

FAIR does not necessarily mean that all data must be openly available without restrictions. It also involves providing clear information about the conditions under which data can be accessed and reused.

Connecting data practices with research integrity

The seminar offered Mario Negri researchers and staff an opportunity to engage with an institutional approach to FAIR data and consider the role of data management in responsible research. Clear documentation and thoughtful data management can help make research processes more transparent and enable others to understand how findings were produced. They can also make it easier for researchers to build on existing work and assess whether findings can be reproduced.

The presentation slides are available on Zenodo.

Supporting more reproducible research

Making research data easier to find, understand and reuse is an important part of building a more transparent research environment. When data and their accompanying documentation are available under clear conditions, other researchers are better equipped to examine methods, verify findings and build on existing work.

The seminar contributed to the broader conversation at the heart of OSIRIS: how research institutions and their communities can support practices that strengthen the quality and reproducibility of research.

OSIRIS – Creating Trust in Open Science & Reproducibility through Accessibility and Transparency.