Open science – Library of the Czech Academy of Sciences (LCAS)The Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) is not a single-campus organisation with one research profile. It connects 54 public research institutions across natural and technical sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. That breadth is valuable for research, but it makes central support for data management planning hard to keep tidy.
The Library of the Czech Academy of Sciences (LCAS, known in Czech as KNAV) supports Open Science and research data management across this environment. FAIR Wizard gives LCAS a way to offer guided Data Management Plan (DMP) workflows while still leaving room for institutes and data stewards to reflect local needs.
For many researchers, a DMP is needed because a funder asks for it. They should not have to start by choosing the right knowledge model, export format, or institute-specific template. In the CAS instance, FAIR Wizard narrows that starting point for them.
The setup combines User Groups, Project Templates, Document Templates, integrations, and automations. Together, these keep the central service manageable while making the first steps clearer for researchers.
User Groups in FAIR Wizard make it possible to manage access for whole teams, not only individual users. A group can be assigned to projects or project templates, and FAIR Wizard Analytics shows which users and projects are connected to each group.
LCAS uses public User Groups for CAS institutes. As a result, institute-specific project templates can be shown to the researchers they are meant for. Private groups remain available for concrete projects or collaborations, which keeps local teamwork possible without changing the institutional structure.
FAIR Wizard can connect to institutional login through SSO, including Shibboleth. Once SSO is in place, automations can be configured according to customer requirements.
In CAS, this supports automated onboarding. Users can be placed into the right User Groups based on affiliation, so central admins do not need to assign every user manually and researchers can see relevant templates after login.
In the CAS instance, new projects start from project templates. This is a small configuration choice with a large effect: researchers begin with an option that already fits a funder, institute, or use case.
LCAS maintains central templates, and data stewards can prepare institute-specific ones. Templates can carry selected knowledge models, explanatory comments, links to domain resources, default document templates, and pre-filled repeated information. That turns DMP creation into a guided path rather than a blank questionnaire.
FAIR Wizard integration questions connect answers in a questionnaire with external systems through APIs. For CAS, ASEP, the institutional repository and research output database managed by LCAS, is used as a data source for contributor and project information.
This matters because much of that information already exists. Pulling it from ASEP avoids retyping names and project details, saves time, and reduces avoidable errors.
The vast majority of users in the CAS instance use FAIR Wizard for funded projects where funders require a DMP. That is why the Common DSW and Life Sciences DSW knowledge models are so important in this setup: they are recommended or accepted in the Czech funding environment.
LCAS also provides document templates for Czech funders, including MŠMT, GAČR, TAČR, and AZV. During the GAČR DMP submission deadline on January 26, 2026, many users worked in the system at once. LCAS did not see an unexpected need for extra support during this period, which is a good sign that users were able to complete their plans and move through the tool on their own.
FAIR Wizard can also be useful outside funder-mandated DMPs. LCAS is considering domain- or institute-specific knowledge models for research activities where there is no single funder template to follow.
The same pattern can support other structured research workflows, including ethical review processes and README templates. Information can be collected once and reused in outputs for researchers, data stewards, or institutional teams.
The CAS case shows what FAIR Wizard is well suited for: a large institution that needs central coordination, but cannot treat all researchers as if they work in the same context.
With User Groups, templates, automations, integrations, and funder-ready document outputs, FAIR Wizard helps LCAS keep DMP work practical. Researchers get a clearer path through the process, data stewards can adapt support for their institutes, and the institution keeps a more consistent Open Science service without making everything manual.
