Looking for data sets to be used in teaching and RDM training? Check out the list below!
Questions regarding other training material? Contact our Helpdesk! 
This is a list of well documented training datasets covering different data types and different aspects of research data management for use in research data management training.
Training datasets
Training datasets are essential for the effective teaching and training of young researchers. They form the basis for teaching data skills and analysis methods. Here, we are refering to datasets used in tutorials on research data management, as demo data set in tools or methods, or as examples for challenges in data handling. This definition does not cover datasets used to train AI applications.
To be labelled as a training dataset they have to:
- be FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).
- be freely available, with an appropriate license and open data format.
- be of reasonable size.
- be citable.
- enable easy-to-understand but interesting questions to be addressed.
- be sufficiently documented.
- be either “perfect” or datasets with didactic errors.
For an overview, check the Poster on What are training datasets in the context of NFDI4Biodiversity (in German): Signer, J., Schlägel, U., Tschink, D., & Röder, J. (2024). Trainingsdatensätze. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13805722
Training datasets help to illustrate all stages of the data life cycle (DLC), e.g.
- Metadata standards to describe and structure (newly collected) data
- (Reproducible) processing of data
- (Reproducible) data analysis
- Workflows to archive, share and publish data for personal and/or public re-use
Figure 1: Data life cycle. Source: RDMkit: The ELIXIR Research Data Management toolkit for Life Sciences URL: https://rdmkit.elixir-europe.org
Biological Datasets
Natur conservation
- DiverReef: A global database of the behavior of recreational divers and their interactions with reefs over 20 years: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4519
- Global Roadkill Data: a dataset on terrestrial vertebrate mortality caused by collision with vehicles: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-04207-x
- SNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023: The First Five Years of Data From a Coordinated Camera Trap Survey of the United States: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13941
- CamTrapAsia: A dataset of tropical forest vertebrate communities from 239 camera trapping studies: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4299
- The Breeding Bird Survey of the United Kingdom: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13943
- Integrated evidence-based extent of occurrence for North American bison (Bison bison) since 1500 CE and before: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.3864
Biology
- Palmer Penguins (trait data): https://allisonhorst.github.io/palmerpenguins/articles/intro.html
- Hawks: contained in the
Stat2DataR package (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/Stat2Data/index.html) - Count data of harbour seal counts in the Elbe Estuary: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.907670
- Small mammals from the Caatinga: A dataset for the Brazilian semiarid biome: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.3879
- A bird species occurrence dataset from passive audio recordings across dense urban areas in Gothenburg, Sweden: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-05481-z
- Long-term observation of the egg and chick size in the nests of Larus ichthyaetus in Lake Chany, Russia: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01454-8
Forestry
- Relative location and diameter of a full tree inventory on 8 studyplots: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.932023
- DFG research training group RTG2300: Enrichment of European beech forests with conifers
- The study plots, where the trees were recorded: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.923125
- Abundance and taxonomic data of forest arthropods, collected on the plots from above: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.923125
- Tree inventory data from permanent plots in French forest reserves: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4324
Genetics
- Environmental DNA analysis of cephalopods off the Azores: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.926840
Taxnomy, Traits
- OpenRefine Training Dataset based on a subset of the BGBM Herbarium: https://zenodo.org/records/14918375. Some ideas howto work with the data: https://zenodo.org/records/14732682.
- Ecological traits for 1374 arthropod species collected in a German grassland: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70077
- Jena Experiment
- Images of 175 individual animals of five distinct taxonomic groups: camels, penguins, goats, tortoises and toads: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.967637
Animal Tracking
- HomeRange: A global database of mammalian home ranges: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geb.13625
- The body size and temperature dependence of organismal locomotion: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.3114
Time Series
- Nutrient and stoichiometric time series measurements of decomposing coarse detritus in freshwaters: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4114
- Annual biomass spatial data for southern California (2001–2021): Above- and belowground, standing dead, and litter: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4031
- Long-term monitoring of Mount St. Helens micrometeorology: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.3950
Spatial Data
- https://data.fdz.ioer.de/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.71830/6ILS40 with a tutorial https://training.fdz.ioer.info/intro.html#.
Environmental Datasets
Land cover
- EGLC: Ensemble Global Land Cover Reference Dataset (2000-2022): https://zenodo.org/records/15594682
Other Collections
- A collection of vegetation and zoological data sets: https://www.davidzeleny.net/anadat-r/doku.php/en:data
- The Humanitarian Data Exchange: https://data.humdata.org/
