The SND office has appointed two Senior Advisors to newly established positions. This initiative aims to meet SND’s need for more resources in outreach activities and strategic work. The Senior Advisors are part of the SND office’s management team and will have a central coordinating role in the organization, working both strategically and operationally.
The Senior Advisors’ tasks will include outreach efforts to strengthen SND’s strategic role in the research policy landscape, such as relationship-building activities to enhance coordination and collaboration within Sweden’s research data sector. They will also represent SND in national and international contexts and lead or participate in various working and project groups. A first priority task is contributing to SND’s KAFFE project (op-ed in Swedish from SND’s newsletter).
Firmly rooted in research data work
The new Senior Advisors are well-established in the national work with research data: Karin Westin Tikkanen has worked at SND for nearly three years and is transitioning from her role as Training Coordinator to Senior Advisor. Stefan Ekman has previously worked at SND for eight years and is a familiar figure to many within the SND Network. Both are Associate Professors with extensive research backgrounds.
Karin looks forward to focusing more on outreach activities.
“I’m eager to contribute with opinion pieces in various forums and to work in other ways to increase awareness and understanding of SND’s existence and its mission. Another important task is integrating SND’s role as a Competence Centre within Skills4EOSC into the knowledge-enhancing work that SND is already engaged in.”
Building a bridge between SND and researchers
Stefan most recently held a position at Uppsala University, where he took part in a research project.
“I want to help build a bridge between SND’s efforts and the everyday realities of researchers. Reaching out to researchers and, through interactions with them, translating visions, policies, and guidelines into the ‘why and how’ of their practical work with research data.”