Hello Data Enthusiast,
We’re in the home stretch now! In these final weeks of the Spring 2026 semester, remember that Data Services is here to help. Explore the many ways we support researchers at NYU by visiting our website and check out some resources below that might be just what you need to get to the finish line.
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Building Urban Data Community: Open Data Creators’ Forum |
Image Credit: NYU Data Services
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We had a blast at our Building Urban Data Community: Open Data Creators’ Forum on April 9th!
The afternoon began with a keynote by Dr. Shlomo Angel (below), Professor of City Planning and PI of the Urban Expansion Project at Marron Institute, where he shared seven data stories–and the lessons he’s learned–from his seven-decade (!) career in urban planning and policy. Our six amazing lightning talks discussed topics ranging from flood resilience to NYC public school data to the urban microbiome to serverless urban analytics tools (and, of course, the value of preserving data in UltraViolet!).
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Image Credit: NYU Data Services
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And finally, it was time to eat dumplings and get serious about voting on the 25+ submissions we received for our Re/Presenting Data competition! Each project reused valuable data that NYU researchers have created, encouraging participants to consider preserving their own work in our UltraViolet Repository. The student work was incredibly impressive-a fact that all our attendees commented upon-and vote counts were very close. Chinmayee P. Gade (Courant) took the judges’ prize with “What Are We Breathing Down There?” and a team of ITP students (M. Ian Askie, Shloka Mohanty, Elizabeth Kezia Widjaja, Matthew Blanco, and Jisoo Lee) received the audience prize for their interactive game SONYC Playground. Cedric Lam (Center for Data Science) was the runner-up with his A Day In the Life: NYC Soundscape project. It was a thrill to award the big checks to the winners, but heartbreaking that we couldn’t award one to all the entrants!
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Image Credit: NYU Data Services
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A big thank you to our co-sponsors, the Marron Institute and the Center for Urban Studies and Progress (CUSP); to all the speakers, attendees, and guest judges; Dibner Library and Bobst Library IT teams; the Goddard Impact Award from the Office of the Provost and David Hochman for funding the event; and of course, all the awesome Data Services student specialists for their help making this event happen!
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Updates to NIH/NSF Data Management Plan Requirements |
Image Credit: National Institutes of Health and U.S. National Science Foundation
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The requirements around data management plans (DMPs) are changing yet again, but don’t worry, we have plenty of templates, tools, and advice to help you navigate them!
Both the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have released new guidance around what they expect of grant applicants. NIH’s changes (outlined in NOT-OD-26-046 ) will take effect on May 25. Luckily, DMPTool has also made a new template available for the community to review [pdf]. NSF’s changes (PAPPG 24-1, Supplement 2) took effect in January 2026, with their new DMP creation tool launching on April 27 for review.
The new DMP formats from both federal agencies are significantly simplified, including replacing narrative questions with a yes/no format. While the new DMPs won’t require as much writing, they still require as much data sharing and active management as before. Data and code are still generally expected to end up in a repository (like our own UltraViolet). If you believe you can’t share your data, exceptions must be specifically requested and explained in the DMP. NSF has also instituted a timeline for data sharing similar to the one already adopted by the NIH: data from grant-funded projects must be shared at the time of first publication of research results.
While DMP requirements may be changing, what remains the same is the ethos around data sharing: open as possible, closed when necessary. And don’t forget: if any of the data management activities in your grant incur a cost, you can write it into the budget of the grant! If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your data management plan, to talk through any of these new changes, or to get help implementing data management practices into your research, please reach out to Data Services.
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NYU IT Student Employee Excellence Awards - Spring 2026 |
Congratulations to our Data Services Student Consultants, Alex Xia (Quantitative Data Analysis Student Specialist) and Ruiting Shen (Data Management Student Specialist), on receiving the Spring 2026 NYU IT Student Employee Excellence Awards. This recognition honors student employees who exemplify NYU IT’s Core Beliefs, and both Alex and Ruiting truly embody these values through their dedication, expertise, and impact. Well-deserved - kudos to both!
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What's New in UltraViolet |
UltraViolet is part of a suite of repositories at NYU that provide a home for research materials. Data Services helps NYU researchers prepare their materials for deposit in UltraViolet to facilitate open access and long-term preservation.
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Did you know you can publish qualitative data in UltraViolet? Researcher Corrina Moucheraud from the School of Public Health recently shared data from a qualitative study done in collaboration with colleagues from Malawi, NYU, and UCLA, Pilot of strategies to increase Malawian health care workers' knowledge about and self-efficacy to recommend HPV vaccination. This study measured Malawian health workers' knowledge and self-efficacy regarding recommending the HPV vaccine to patients. The team was able to share it because they worked to de-identify the data. Remember, we can’t share sensitive data in UltraViolet since it’s an open access repository; if you have qualitative data that needs to be shared in a more closed environment, we can connect you with the Qualitative Data Repository (QDR). Since we’re members, this service is available to you as an NYU researcher! The QDR also offers some helpful templates for including language in your consent form that promotes data sharing.
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Image Credit: SimplyAnalytics
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Data Services is currently trialing Dave Leip's Atlas of Elections in SimplyAnalytics, a web-based mapping, analytics, and data visualization platform where NYU researchers can already access data such as demographics, marketing and consumer behavior (purchasing and product usage data), market segments, health, and business points for States, Congressional Districts, Counties, Cities/Places, ZIP Codes, Census Tracts, and Block Groups. Users can also export data, maps, reports and shapefiles for use outside of SimplyAnalytics.
Dave Leip’s Atlas of Elections in SimplyAnalytics allows easy access to voting data at county-level for the U.S. President (1992-2024), U.S. Senate (1990-2024), U.S. House of Representatives (1990-2024), Governors (1990-2024), and Voter Registration & Turnout (1992-2024 as available). Our trial runs until May 15th, 2026, so try it out for your project in the next few weeks and let us know what you think in our quick (only seven questions!) anonymous survey.
* Please note that we recommend that you create your own SimplyAnalytics user account using your NYU email so you can save your work.
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Image Credit: UCLA Williams Institute
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Researchers at the Williams Institute at UCLA Law have identified the removal of sexual orientation/gender identity measures from approximately 360 different federal data collections from January 2025 to January 2026. "The majority (94%) of data elements removed from federal collections were gender identity demographic measures (n=338 collections). These changes were made largely pursuant to President Trump's Executive Order 14,168. At least 60 data collections also removed sexual orientation data elements. These actions were not explicitly mandated under Executive Order 14,168 or related implementation guidance. Twenty-three (23) collections removed SO and/or GI data elements from bias motivation questions, precluding the ability to report discrimination on these bases. These removals span multiple data collection types, including national surveys and surveillance systems, government-funded research studies, programmatic monitoring systems and evaluation studies, and administrative forms and records." Read the report here.
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Data Services Team Spotlight |
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Image Credit: Data Services
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Q.What is your name, program, and year?
Alex Xia, second-year M.S. student in Biostatistics.
Q.What's your service area at Data Services and how long have you worked here?
I’ve been working here for about a year, primarily focusing on quantitative research support.
Q.What do you like most about working at Data Services?
I enjoy that people come in with real problems they need help solving, and I’m able to support them in a meaningful way.
Q. Describe your favorite data-related project that you've worked on.
I worked on analyzing actigraphy data to examine patterns in physical activity and how they relate to self-reported sleep efficiency.
Q. What's your favorite place to get a meal or a snack near Bobst Library?
Sanuki Udon—great noodles and a solid go-to spot nearby.
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Thanks for reading! We hope to see you soon either on the 5th floor at Bobst or online.
- Your friends at Data Services
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70 Washington Square South, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10012
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