In March last year, Professor Katrin Weller took over as the new Scientific Director of the Department for Data Services for the Social Sciences (DSS) at GESIS in Cologne (Köln). But who is Professor Katrin Weller?

Weller has long held a fascination with and interest in the social sciences.

"I was originally interested in the historical aspects of society and studied history. Then I grew more interested in present times and in the temporal development of society, and the ways in which we can learn about them. What can we learn when studying what people do online?" asks Professor Weller. 

For over a decade, Weller has worked in the Social Sciences, both as a researcher herself, and in data management. She has worked at the Department of Information Science at Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, was a Digital Studies Fellow at the Library of Congress’ John W. Kluge Centre, co-led the Research Data and Methods unit at the Centre of Advanced Internet Studies in Bochum, and led the team “Digital Society Observatory” as part of the department Computational Social Science at GESIS.

She has published widely on social science research data, open science, and digital research, and is now both a Scientific Director at GESIS and a Professor for Research Data Management for the Social Sciences at Heinrich-Heine-University.

When asked what it is a Scientific Director does, Weller explains:

"I manage about thirty people at GESIS, where we have two different main activities: service and research. Everything around data archiving, from acquiring  and documenting data to making it available through different routes, including  a secure data centre and supporting researchers in data management processes , falls under the service category. Meanwhile, we also do research into data management and into traditional social science topics, which fall under the research category. As the director of the department I also think about what areas to expand in the future."

One of those areas Weller and her team are looking into, is how to better collect, store, and ensure the quality of new types of data. Particularly that which comes from social media.

"I try to bring together different parts of my expertise by looking at how new types of data can be archived, become reusable, and be given to the community, but it presents us with a lot of technical, legal, and ethical challenges. We have this data that’s highly relevant for the Social Sciences, data that we can learn so much from. But it presents numerous pitfalls and challenges regarding quality that we must tackle," says Weller.

She says the data collected from social media like Twitter, YouTube, and Meta’s platforms can be used to study everything from citizens’ well-being, political concepts, or even hate speech and polarization.

"But there are so many questions that we must answer regarding this data. What does quality data mean when discussing data collected this way? And how do we make it accessible for researchers?"

Despite these challenges, Weller remains excited about the potential of her work and the future of data management in the social sciences. When asked what she likes best about her new position as Scientific Director, Weller finds it difficult to pick just one thing.

"I have so many different opportunities every day. No day is the same; there are always new topics to explore, new opportunities to engage with new people and learn something new. That is what I enjoy the most- exploring new options based on the foundations that we have built and combining my expertise with that of others so that something new comes out of it."