Yoda¶

Overview

This is the Yoda documentation, part of VU Tools in the A-LIFE RDM collection.

This page guides you through the full Yoda workflow — from requesting your storage space to publishing your data.

What is Yoda?
Why use Yoda?
Yoda Workflow

Supporting materials: Resources, FAQs
Authors: Irene Martorelli, Brett Olivier — Last modification: 2026-07-27 — Version: 0.9.1

Quick Links¶

Login to the VU Yoda Portal

Access your Yoda project space via the VU Yoda Portal using your regular VU credentials.
Yoda VU Published Datasets

Browse the catalogue of Yoda datasets published at the VU via DataCite Commons.

What is Yoda?¶

Yoda is a research data management platform recommended at the VU that supports the entire research cycle.

In practice, Yoda serves two key functions in the research data lifecycle:

Active storage — a secure cloud space for storing and sharing data during your project.
Archiving & publishing — finalised datasets are submitted to the Vault, a read-only long-term storage space, where they can optionally be published and assigned a persistent identifier (DOI).

Why use Yoda?¶

Full data lifecycle — one platform for active storage, archiving, and publishing, so you don't need to migrate data between separate systems.
Secure and reviewed — archived data packages go through a data manager review before entering the read-only Vault, ensuring quality and completeness.
Persistent identifiers — published datasets receive a DOI via DataCite, making your data findable, citable, and reusable.
Institutionally supported — recommended and supported by the VU as the primary RDM platform for research data.
Flexible access — connect via the Yoda Portal or transfer files using WebDAV-compatible clients such as Cyberduck.
Built for collaboration — manage group members and permissions directly within your Yoda Research Space.

Yoda Workflow¶

Follow these steps in order to get started with Yoda and take your data from the active storage to publication.

Step	What it covers	Documentation
1. Getting Started	Request your Yoda storage space from the VU	Getting Started
2. Organise your Data	Structure your files locally before uploading	Organise your Data
3. Transfer Data	Move your data into your Yoda Research Space	Transfer Data
4. Manage Group Members	Add and manage access for collaborators	Manage Group Members
5. Metadata & Documentation	Complete the metadata form and add a README	Metadata and Documentation
6. Archive your Data	Submit finalised data to the read-only Vault	Archiving in Yoda
7. Publish your Data	Publish your dataset and receive a DOI	Publishing in Yoda

Are you new to Yoda?

If you have never used Yoda before, we recommend to start with Step 1 — Getting Started before anything else. If you already have access, you can simply go and log in, as found in the Quick Links above.