Eva Stensköld has been the director of SND since 1 February. Looking at her professional experience and interests, she is perfectly suited for the job. So, why is open science and good access to research infrastructure so important to Eva?
“It's about being an enabler, about creating good conditions for research. It's so essential for the quality of research to have functional tools and structures. It's also an important matter of fairness, that it should be possible to benefit from and have access to good support, even if you're not at a large university,” she says.
Eva Stensköld has been the director of SND since 1 February. Photos: Gunnar Jönsson.
Eva Stensköld received her doctorate degree in archaeology from Stockholm University in 2004. A few years after she had completed her dissertation, she grew tired of the solitary work as a researcher and took on a temporary position as a web editor and antiquarian at the Swedish History Museum. The job was part of the so-called Access project, which ran from 2006 to 2009 and aimed to increase accessibility to the Swedish cultural heritage. The Swedish History Museum was one of the institutions that made extra investments; they redesigned their website, reviewed all their material, and produced many new texts. The goal was to make the latest research accessible to everyone, regardless of their level of knowledge.
“God, it was fun! I really felt like I had found my place, that here I can make a difference and help research to reach out. Among other things, we provided book recommendations and organized storytelling sessions for children,” Eva recounts.
Jobs at research funders and ministries
Working for research and researchers kindled a desire to do more, and after a few years at the museum, she landed a job at the Swedish Research Council, responsible for, among other things, Sunet and research infrastructure issues in the humanities and social sciences. Later, when the Ministry of Education and Research needed a humanities scholar who was familiar with research infrastructure, she spent several years in politics as a non-political civil servant, including as coordinator of open science and of research, innovation, and space in the EU. She also spent some time at the Ministry of Culture, responsible for various cultural heritage matters. Working at the ministries was enjoyable and challenging, but Eva wanted to return to the research issues and research funding. A suitable job came up at the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, where Eva stayed for seven years until she now took the step to SND.
“I saw that SND's director Max Petzold was stepping down and thought the job seemed very interesting. Working comprehensively and cross-cuttingly on the broader issues of research infrastructures and open science was appealing,” says Eva.
Eva Stensköld sees the coming years as a very interesting stage of development, both for open science in general and for SND specifically.
Has the footwork skills and a broad network
So, what does Eva think of as the important lessons she has brought from politics and research funders that can be useful in her role at SND?
“I’ve got the footwork skills and have a broad network. In politics, collaboration, engagement, and networking are central. You pick up the phone, you know who shares your opinion. You can achieve a lot if the right people are in the right places. I've learned very much about how to drive processes and move issues forward; it’s a craft you learn.”
She describes the current situation and the coming years as a very interesting stage of development, both for open science in general and for SND specifically. By the end of 2024, the Swedish government will present its research and innovation bill, where research infrastructures and research data are expected to be one of the priorities. In the coming year, SND will apply to the Swedish Research Council for continued funding from 2027 onwards, while the question of forming a new agency for national e-infrastructure may resurface. Despite the various possible scenarios for SND's organizational form and the way forward, Eva has a clear vision of what SND should be.
Good e-infrastructure is fundamental
“SND is here to stay. We should strive to be a national node for Swedish research and coordinate the work on research data across all fields. We should be a national knowledge hub in this area, contribute to the coordination of national efforts within EOSC (European Open Science Cloud), and collaborate with the other national e-infrastructures. As I see it, good e-infrastructure is the foundation for conducting research. I hope we gain acceptance to raise our ambitions. The investments we make within SND are very long-term, so it's challenging that our mandate in this area is short-term,” says Eva.
She emphasizes how important it is that SND continues to deliver all the services and tools that have already been developed within the organization and the SND Network. The goal is for SND’s research data catalogue and the new web portal researchdata.se to be the obvious choice for researchers in Sweden, both for sharing their own data and for finding others' data for reuse. Increased visibility is also needed, according to Eva, not only within the university sector but also among policymakers and research funders.
Tour of the universities in the SND Consortium
The immediate task for the new director is a tour of the universities within the SND Consortium to evaluate past activities and discuss both the current situation and future plans. Umeå University was the first stop, followed by Lund University. This week, the tour has visited the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Uppsala University.
The SND Consortium and the nine universities in it are fundamental to SND’s operations, along with our network – it gives us muscle, grounds us at the HEIs and among researchers, and provides access to valuable knowledge and expertise, as well as important co-financing. It’s incredibly rewarding to meet our consortium universities; to listen to how they work with their research data management and discuss how SND can contribute to this work.
Especially after the Swedish National Audit Office's audit, the management of sensitive data and data of various kinds that require protection is currently a key issue at the HEIs.
“We hope SND can continue to contribute to quality-assured research data management and positive developments in the field,” says Eva.
There are five more consortium universities to visit in the coming weeks. Karolinska Institutet and KTH are on the agenda for 25 March, and Stockholm University on 26 March. The tour concludes in Gothenburg with Chalmers on 3 April and University of Gothenburg on 9 April.
A little more about Eva Stensköld
Eva loves hiking, even in much more challenging conditions than those around SND.54 years old.
Remarried, has two adult sons.
Ph.D. in archaeology.
Director of SND since 1 February.
Recently moved to Borås after 33 years in Stockholm, also has a flat in Stockholm (Södermalm). Born in Gothenburg but raised in Fräntorp and on a "green wave" farm in Bollebygd, as well as in Borås.
In her spare time, she enjoys activities such as hiking, gardening, and spending time with her dachshund Bilbo.
This is something few people know about Eva:
“I have a creative side that I try to cultivate. I make cross-stitch embroideries with words and create collages using magazines, painting, and wallpaper paste. One of my favourite embroideries that I've been considering bringing to work is ‘What would Ripley do?’. I love the Alien movies and horror films, especially those with zombies; I think zombie movies say a lot about what it means to be human.”
