This is a talk from STEP-UP RSLondon 2026 on the 29th June 2026 at The Francis Crick Institute, delivered in the Research Data Track session. The full prgramme is available here: https://step-up.ac.uk/events/step-up-2026/schedule/ Abstract: The Careers and Skills for Data Driven Research Network+ (CaSDaR – www.casdar.ac.uk) is a UKRI funded Network Plus geared towards creating a network of data stewards and supporting the careers and skills development of Data Stewards, individuals who oversee the correct collection, curation, structure, and sharing of organisational data within the correct governance frameworks. A key deliverable of CaSDaR is to highlight the essential skills needed by Data Stewards and to promote the organisational culture change required for these skills to be formally recognised. To support this, CaSDaR has allocated flexible funding to demonstrate the value of embedding Data Stewardship practices within processes, projects, collections, and organisations through funding two different project types. The first were £5k projects lasting for 8-10 weeks, geared towards upskilling prospective trainee data stewards. These projects were intended to give individuals experience in Data Stewardship, supporting the establishment of the role as a viable career option. The second were £70k Projects lasting 6-9 Months; These projects were geared towards upskilling established individuals interested in enhancing their career progress in roles aligned with Data Stewardship. CaSDaR completed the first call to distribute these flexible funds in in March 2026. In this talk, we will describe how the funding call enabled the CaSDaR team to identify the skills and needs of individuals working in Data Stewardship and of the organisations that employ them. We will also discuss the areas of Stewardship that applicants believe require further development, how organisations currently support Data Stewards, and the expected outcomes of the funded projects. Finally, we will outline how these insights will inform CaSDaR’s ongoing strategy and the delivery of their objectives. This analysis is an outputs from the Careers and Skills for Data-driven Research (CaSDaR) initiative, a 4-year UKRI funded dRTP initiative, grant number UKRI739.