Spotlight on: Wouter Peeters
Every other week, the Thematic DCCs and the Data Steward Interest Group (DSIG) put the spotlight on one research data steward working in the Netherlands to stimulate knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning.
What drew you towards the research data management field?
Honestly, I stumbled on it. I lived abroad for nearly a decade, doing my PhD and subsequently being an assistant professor doing my own research. I missed home and decided to return. In my search for a job, the data steward position crossed my path. Towards the end of my research abroad I had already started to take a closer interest in data management and open science, so it only felt logical to apply for this role.
What is an activity/task of your role that you find yourself looking forward to?
I get the most excited about talking to researchers. The topics they research is completely different from what I studied, so it is often brilliant to hear about all the different topics that are researched at this university and you learn a thing or two yourself. To then being able to support them in their data management makes it a win-win situation! At the same time, I'm a numbers and stats person, so conducting some monitoring activities is also something I can lose track of time with.
What is something unexpected that you can offer help with, if a colleague reaches out to you?
My background is in exercise physiology and sport nutrition, so several colleagues who like to exercise come to me to ask for advice.
What do you think your community of research data professionals is missing?
Our university is growing, including the research support it provides. This simply means you are figuring things out on the go, rather than having the know-how where to find every document for every policy. The amount of documentation is already huge, so being able to filter out is something that could make life easier.
What is a topic you would want to collaborate on with others?
Strengthening local collaborations to promote open science - South-Limburg has a lot of research institutes (Open Universiteit, Maastricht University, Zuyd, Chemelot, Brightlands etc.) and thus research going. I think closer collaboration could further catalyse the impact this region can have.
Could you point us to a resource, learning platform, tool or similar which you find useful or inspirational?
I recently read on the DSIG Slack channel about the development of SYNAPSIS supported by the TDCC-SSH Challenge fund. Because a lot of research at OU is interview-based, I am going to keep a close eye on this product that can help to FAIRify our research data.
Get in touch with Wouter Peeters on: LinkedIn | ORCID
Do you want to read other interviews published in the Spotlight on series? Visit the series' page.
