Georgia Koutentaki’s journey began in Crete, continued through Patras, and eventually led her, almost by accident, to Prague. “I wanted my CV to look good,” she admits, having found her dream laboratory at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague (UCT) before she even checked where the Czech Republic was on the map. During her PhD she discovered her passion for data management. Today she trains the next generation of data stewards, builds bridges across an international scientific community, and approaches data with the same appreciation she brings to her other passion: art.
I come from Crete. I always loved studying as a child. It was truly my hobby. I studied Chemical Engineering in Patras, and I was looking for an interesting internship in the area of pharmaceutical product engineering. In my university’s database, I found the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague (UCT).
I meet many people here who are somehow related to Greeks, but at that time I didn’t mind about the country I would end up in so much. I wanted my CV to get better. I found a laboratory at UCT focused on pharmaceuticals, which was exactly the field I wanted to go deeper into. Only afterwards I checked where the laboratory actually was.
It was very short, only three months, but an incredible experience. When I was leaving, my professor offered me a doctorate at UCT. I told him I needed to finish my Master’s in Greece first, and later I returned to Prague for my PhD.
I started working with the Pharmaceutical Applied Research Center (the Parc) in Prague as part of my PhD and also continued in the same UCT laboratory. But a doctorate is much more demanding than an internship. During my PhD, UCT offered the students a data stewardship course. It was one semester divided into three parts: theory, homework, and practical exercises including visits to industry.
It was part of a UCT initiative for PhD students, within the EU-funded DocEnhance project led by the UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The course aimed to teach the basics of data stewardship.
“During my PhD, UCT offered the students a data stewardship course. It was one semester divided into three parts: theory, homework, and practical exercises including visits to industry.”
Not very different but the volume of data is much bigger. Industry also has more resources to buy software and build their own applications, which universities usually cannot. There is also more stability: data stewards in industry have permanent jobs. At university, employment is often tied to a specific project.
I was struggling with managing data in my own research. It basically saved my work. The difference in my data before and after the course is like day and night, even though I thought I was organised.
I first learned the Data Stewardship Wizard, which was very important. I didn’t focus only on software but mostly on correct file naming, formats, folders. That was my first year after the course.
“I was struggling with managing data in my own research. It basically saved my work. The difference in my data before and after the course is like day and night, even though I thought I was organised.”
I showed interest to the organisers of the course and I was invited to present my experience at the final DocEnhance conference. There is also a short YouTube video where I talk about it. Later I was asked to help establish the data steward team at UCT, which we started in 2023.
Yes, since I finished the course everything has been going smoothly. It also came at a time when I was tired from my doctorate and wanted a change.
There is definitely future in my research, but at times it was difficult to keep up. I decided that a future office job will give me more balance. We started as a small data steward team of three, along with our leader at UCT.
Yes, I actually work at two universities now. A full-time position at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) and a part-time position at UCT. I really enjoy my team at UCT, we have grown together. At CTU, I am officially employed under the National Repository Platform (NRP) project. NRP provides infrastructure and services for repositories and data management across the Czech Republic. As data stewards, we are divided by discipline. I am a STEM data steward, and my role is to train future data stewards who will use this infrastructure.
New data stewards need to know not only the basics but also project-specific applications. We have just piloted a Data Steward Wizard for NRP, which is intended to be free application for institutes using e-INFRA in the Czech Republic. There is a difference between teaching researchers and teaching data stewards. With stewards I share my daily practice. Half of my work is self-study of policies and emerging topics, because only then can we support others effectively. Under the NRP project we also created a smaller STEM data steward community of around ten people. We meet every three months, and I serve as the group leader. We learn from each other and look for solutions together.
Very active. We talk almost every day. It’s helpful and we feel we have a voice. A few years ago the role was new and many weren’t sure what it meant. Through NRP I am growing a lot. It’s important to have a voice and spread information. When people come for help with data management plans they are often scared and they don’t see the positives. A big part of the job is to explain the benefits.
As a child I was a writer. I always liked trying new things and expressing myself through art. My family is very artistic, yet both my brother and I chose to be engineers. The freedom you get from art is different from the structure you get in science, and I need both. To be organised and to express myself. Now I see art in everything. I love my job and I love communicating with people.
Chemical engineering was interesting to me due to its variability, and it was also something solid and sensible for a career. But when data stewardship entered the picture, I finally felt I had found my own place.
There is a clear gap between people who are willing to speak an international language and those who are not. As a PhD student it was sometimes difficult to integrate into groups, and I experienced it as a communication barrier, though I understand why it exists. Honestly, that surprised me the most. Otherwise I am very happy here, especially in an international environment. Part of my role is also to share information with the international community, which is much larger than I expected.
Good question. I would advise them to find responsible people at their university - either data stewards or the project office, which usually provides guidelines. If they cannot find it there, the Czech data steward community has around 400 members. And it all starts with naming files correctly.
“We have just piloted a Data Steward Wizard for NRP, which is intended to be free application for institutes using e-INFRA in the Czech Republic. There is a difference between teaching researchers and teaching data stewards.”
serves as a Data Steward for STEM disciplines within the NRP project. She is affiliated with the FIT CTU Prague department and actively participates in the Data Stewards community in CR. Concurrently, she holds a data stewardship role at the institutional level at UCT Prague, contributing to the data stewards' team of UCT. With a deep scientific foundation as a chemical engineer in applied sciences, she combines her experience in data stewardship from both consultative and practical perspectives. Her international scientific background enables her to promote good scientific practices within the Czech context and beyond.
From June 3–5, Ostrava hosted a summer school for data stewards, focused on modern approaches to managing and sharing scientific data. Participants expanded both their expertise and their network within the Czech community, now numbering over 350 professionals.
Proper data handling is the foundation of modern science. In the series Data Stewards: Mission FAIR, you will discover who data stewards are, what their work entails, and what tools and educational opportunities they can use.
