ODISSEI Podcast

In this episode, Tom Emery sits down with Lana Fani, Managing Director of the Netherlands Cohorts Consortium (NCC), to talk about her path into cohort research and what drew her to the NCC. Lana explains why cohort studies are such a powerful tool for health research as well as other fields, and how linking data across cohorts - the NCC's core ambition - could unlock findings a single study could...

In this episode, Tom Emery talks with Jack Fitzgerald, a PhD candidate in economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Tinbergen Institute. Jack tells us all about replication, and how he developed his passion for it. He points out that replication can be a very useful tool for early career researchers to understand how experts in the field think about and conduct research, down to their code...

Tom Emery speaks with Chris Bail, Professor of Sociology, Computer Science, Political Science, and Public Policy at Duke University and co-founder of SICSS (the Summer Institutes in Computational Social Science). Nearly ten years on, Chris reflects on how SICSS grew from a single location to more than 50 worldwide, and the community that made it possible. He also explains why the part of the cours...

In this episode, Tom Emery speaks with Konrad Turek, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Tilburg University and a core team member of the Comparative Panel File (CPF). As the recipient of the first ODISSEI Open Science Award, Konrad reflects on how seeing science as a collective endeavour, rather than an individual pursuit, shaped the development of the CPF with a small group of collaborators. He...

In this episode, Tom Emery is joined by Kasia Karpinska, Scientific Manager at ODISSEI, to talk about how researchers can get started with the ODISSEI infrastructure. Kasia shares practical insights on grant applications and using multiple ODISSEI facilities together. They also introduce the ODISSEI Early Career Board — a new initiative designed to support early-career researchers through training...

In this episode, Tom Emery speaks with Adriënne Mendrik, CEO and Co-founder of Eyra, an open-source software services company specialising in solutions for scientific research. Adriënne shares her journey from computer science and medical imaging to building software that supports sustainable and transparent research practices. She also discusses Eyra’s work in benchmarking and data donation initi...

In this episode, we talk with Kristina Thompson from Wageningen University about the intersection of historical data and public health research. She explains why the Netherlands has such rich data resources, how historical trends illuminate health and society even today, and how automation can help improve the records. Kristina also shares her experience working with Delpher, the digitised histori...

In this episode, we talk with Mercè Crosas, Director of Computational Social Sciences at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and President of CODATA, about how AI is shaping the future of social science infrastructure. She reflects on her path into computational social science, explains what research infrastructures do and why they matter, and discusses how AI is already improving data access, dis...

In this episode, we talk with Flavio Hafner and Malte Luken from the eScience Center about how Research Software Engineering supports social science research. They discuss what RSEs do, how computational tools can transform projects, and how they help make research reproducible and sustainable. Flavio and Malte also share examples from real-world social science projects, explain the collaboration...

In this episode, Tom Emery talks with Ricarda Braukmann from DANS about how data archiving supports open and trustworthy science. They discuss why repositories matter, how researchers can make their data reusable, and how tools like AI are changing the field. Ricarda also shares insights into CoreTrustSeal certification, the ODISSEI Portal, and how European collaborations like CESSDA help shape th...

In this episode of the ODISSEI podcast, we’re joined by Marcel Das to dive into the world of open probability panels through the LISS Panel. Marcel explains what a probability-based survey is, how panels differ from traditional surveys, and what makes LISS unique as an “open” panel. We’ll explore the types of studies carried out in LISS, how researchers can access the data, and how it connects wit...

In this episode, we unpack the basic concept of a Trusted Research Environment, what it is, why it matters, and how it can enable secure, high-quality research. We explore how ODISSEI is advancing TREs through the SANE Project, and how this work connects with key data sources such as LISS and CBS. Affiliations:  Lucas van der Meer – CTO of ODISSEI . Dr. Tom Emery – Executive Director of ODISSEI ,...

In this episode of the ODISSEI podcast, we’re joined by Bella Struminskaya to dive into the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Bella explains what SHARE is, why it was created, and the vital role it plays in understanding the lives of older Europeans. We’ll explore the history of SHARE, what makes this study so valuable for researchers and policymakers, and the challenges i...

In this episode, Tom Emery is joined by Angelica Maineri to talk about data and FAIR principles. Here, we explore the core idea of FAIR Data: what it really means and how ODISSEI is working to build infrastructure that puts FAIR principles into practice. Affiliations:  Angelica Maineri – Data Manager at ODISSEI Dr. Tom Emery – Executive Director of ODISSEI , the Dutch National Infrastructure for S...

In this episode, Tom Emery speaks with Liza Sivak about the role of benchmarking in demographic research and the challenges of working with fertility data. Liza presents the PreFer Benchmarking Challenge , an initiative to assess how well fertility outcomes in the Netherlands can currently be predicted, to improve our understanding of fertility. Affiliations  Elizaveta Sivak is a sociologist and a...

In this episode, Tom Emery is joined by Laura Boeschoten to explore the concept of Data Donation. They discuss what it entails, how it works, and the potential it has to shape the future of research and data sharing. Affiliations:  Laura Boeschoten is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Methodology and Statistics at Utrecht University. She currently works on building a Digital Data Donatio...