Research data management forms the bedrock of robust research practice and gives rise to enhanced efforts to embed open science and scholarship practices across the research data lifecycle in-line with the FAIR1 and CARE2 principles.At UCL, Research Data Management (RDM) covers the decisions and actions taken by researchers to manage this evidence throughout the research lifecycle — from planning for and carrying out studies, to archiving, preserving, and curating research outputs to enable data discovery, access, and sharing. The UCL Research Data Policy 2026 supports staff and students in managing their research data.The policy statements are:1) Ensure data are as open as possible, as closed as necessary.2) Share responsibility for managing and preserving research data between all members of UCL.3) Following primary use (e.g. publication) or when research data is archived for longer-term preservation, these data will be made available in a timely fashion.4) Establish clear lines of responsibility so that research data generated at UCL will always have an owner who is responsible for preserving research data.5) All research datasets - regardless of where they are archived and how open3 they are - should be recorded in UCL Research Publications Service4 or the UCL Research Data Repository5.ReferencesWilkinson, M., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I. et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci Data 3, 160018 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance https://www.gida-global.org/careAccess to research data may be controlled or restricted due to ethical, legal or commercial reasonsResearch Publications Service https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/open-science-research-support/open-access/ucls-research-publications-service-rpsUCL Research Data Repository https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/open-science-research-support/research-data-management/ucl-research-data-repository