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v2026.11,610 entries · CC-BY 4.0

RDMF (CASRAI)

Research Data Management Certification — Foundation

LevelFoundationRDMRDMF (CASRAI)
30 h
Nominal
Self-paced study
6
Lessons
6 modules
8
Domains
Exam blueprint
72
Exam items
Per attempt
70%
Pass mark
Fixed, uncurved
90
Retake wait
Days

What you earn

The credential itself

Pass the examination and CASRAI issues this certificate and the post-nominal RDMF (CASRAI), signed by the Programme Director and verifiable by anyone, permanently, from the code on its face.

Specimen. Issued as a signed PDF and as a machine-readable Open Badge; the holder and code shown are illustrative.
How it appears on your CV

Certifications

RDMF (CASRAI)Research Data Management, Foundation

CASRAI·Issued Mar 2026·Credential ID CASRAI-RDM-2026-AKI9JZ

casrai.org/verify/CASRAI-RDM-2026-AKI9JZ

Every certificate is issued under the signature of Dr. Diana Nieves Castro, MD, Programme Director of CASRAI Certification, who sets the syllabus, blueprint and pass mark for this credential.

It certifies that its holder passed the CASRAI examination for this course on the date shown, scored against the blueprint and pass mark published on this page — and anyone can confirm it from the verification code, without an account and without contacting us.

About this credential

What it covers

Body of knowledge

Exam blueprint

The exam is assembled to these weights on every attempt. They are published before purchase because a blueprint you cannot see is not a blueprint.

Domains and weights8 domains · 72 scored items
DomainWeight
The research data lifecycle, definitions and the policy landscapeF1
16%12 items
Data management and sharing planningF2
18%13 items
Documentation, metadata and data descriptionF3
14%10 items
Storage, formats, integrity and preservationF4
14%10 items
Repositories: selection, appraisal, deposit and trustF5
12%9 items
Sensitive, restricted and Indigenous dataF6
12%9 items
Sharing, licensing, citation and availabilityF7
10%7 items
Institutional RDM service design, governance and costingF8
4%3 items
Total100%

Item counts are approximate. Each attempt draws a fresh form to the weights above, so the exact number of items per domain varies between attempts.

Syllabus

6 modules, 6 lessons

Every lesson and every learning outcome is listed. The lesson bodies open on enrolment; nothing else about the course is withheld.

6 modules · 6 lessons · 30 h

Lesson material opens once you are enrolled. The full syllabus and every learning outcome are shown here so you can judge the coverage before you pay.

  1. Module 1

    F1

    1 lesson · 4 h

    1. Locked.What research data are, and how they move4 h · Locked
  2. Module 2

    F2

    1 lesson · 5 h

    1. Locked.The policy landscape you are actually subject to5 h · Locked
  3. Module 3

    F3

    1 lesson · 6 h

    1. Locked.Writing a data management and sharing plan6 h · Locked
  4. Module 4

    F4

    1 lesson · 5 h

    1. Locked.Documenting data so a stranger can use them5 h · Locked
  5. Module 5

    F5

    1 lesson · 5 h

    1. Locked.Storing, formatting and keeping data5 h · Locked
  6. Module 6

    F6

    1 lesson · 5 h

    1. Locked.Depositing, sharing, licensing and citing5 h · Locked

Assessment

How the exam works

The exam is closed-book and multiple choice. Each attempt draws a fresh form to the domain weights above, so no two attempts are the same paper and no answer key circulates. The pass mark is 70% and is fixed — there is no curve, no quota and no adjustment by cohort.

Scoring is immediate. You are shown your overall result and, for every item, the option you chose, the correct option and the reasoning behind it — whether you passed or not. A failed attempt may be retaken after 90 days. The wait exists so a retake is a second attempt at the material rather than a second attempt at remembering the paper.

Forms are assembled to the blueprint above or not at all: where a domain cannot yet be sampled to that standard, the exam declines to start rather than issue an unbalanced paper. Your material and progress are never affected, and there is no time limit on when you sit.

Passing candidates are issued a certificate with a verification code. Anyone can check that code on our public verification page without an account and without contacting us.

Certifying authority

Signed by Dr. Diana Nieves Castro, MD

CASRAI’s certification programme is academically and medically directed by Dr. Diana Nieves Castro, MD, Programme Director, who sets the syllabus and blueprint for this credential and signs every certificate issued under it.

CASRAI has maintained the terminology and reporting standards of research administration for over a decade. It assumed leadership of the CRediT contributor-roles taxonomy in 2014 and carried it through to adoption as ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022, now in use by publishers, funders and institutions worldwide. This examination is drawn from that body of work.

What the credential certifies: that its holder passed the CASRAI examination for this course on the date shown, scored against the blueprint and pass mark published above — verifiable by anyone, permanently, from the code on its face.

The ladder

Other levels of Research Data Management

Levels are independent purchases. There is no prerequisite chain — sit whichever level matches the work you already do.

All CASRAI credentials

Referenced across the research world

University of Cambridge logoColumbia University logoCrossref logoUniversity of Edinburgh logoHarvard University logoUniversity of Oxford logoPrinceton University logoStanford School of Medicine logoUniversity College London logoORCID logoUniversity of Cambridge logoColumbia University logoCrossref logoUniversity of Edinburgh logoHarvard University logoUniversity of Oxford logoPrinceton University logoStanford School of Medicine logoUniversity College London logoORCID logo
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