This post is part of our Curators’ Corner series. Every so often we’ll feature a different DCN Curator. The series grew out of a community-building activity wherein curators at our partner organizations interview each other “chain-letter style” in order to get to know each other and their work outside of the DCN better. We hope you enjoy these posts!
Neggin Keshavarzian is the Research Data Management Specialist at Princeton University. Neggin was interviewed by Lauren Phegley in October 2024.
How did you come to your current position?
It was kind of serendipitous. I didn’t know that this was a type of job that someone could have. In my previous position, I was a research specialist at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute doing research and was also tasked with uploading fMRI datasets to OpenNeuro and the NIMH National Data Archive. So I was doing some data curation and data management without knowing it. I just knew that there were standards that the data had to be transformed into, organized, and documented so they could be submitted to those repositories. So this was a 2-year grant funded position that was coming to an end and I was looking for a new job. Around that time the Princeton Research Data Service (PRDS) was created, and I talked with the Head of PRDS at the time (Wind Cowles) about what data management and data curation things I was doing in Princeton Neuroscience Institute. PRDS just so happened to be hiring data management specialists, so I applied and here I am!
What do you do?
In my capacity as a Senior Research and Management Specialist, I am a part of a team that supports all things data management on campus. A big component of that is training and going into classes, sessions, or labs. We also consult one on one, either with researchers, labs, or teams to help see what data management pain points they have and fulfill those needs. Also, I am one of the curators for our institutional data repository, which is Princeton Data Commons. We do a full curation for any data sets that anyone affiliated with Princeton can submit to us. And I do ORCID and SciENcv support, I partnered with our research office to promote campus wide ORCID adoption.
How much of your job involves data curation?
About a third of my position involves data curation in addition to data management education and consultations. It ebbs and flows throughout the academic year.
Why is data curation important to you?
Data reusability is really important to me, especially reusing data in a learning or teaching context. When I was an undergraduate, I wanted to learn how to analyze fMRI data but didn’t have access to any at my institution. This was over 10 years ago and it wasn’t easy to find fMRI datasets. Curated data with documentation really helps for someone new to working with data.
Why is the Data Curation Network important?
Because it’s full of wonderful people! I think it’s great to be able to connect, discuss, and talk with other people in similar positions and fields, because it’s still such an evolving space. We have similar pain points in our own institutions where things are a bit challenging, so having that support is important. It’s also just that we learn from each other, there is so much expertise and experience in the DCN. I think every time there’s a curator check in, or any of the committees, interest groups, or an All-Hands Meeting, there’s always so much that can be learned and discussed. There’s comfort in that, being able to come together, brainstorm, figure out, or learn what others have done, and then take that to our own institutions, has been really nice.
If you weren’t doing data curation, what would you be doing?
I had a lot of interest in criminology and the criminal justice system. Before I found myself in my current position, I was exploring ways to be involved in that space and working with data. There were some interesting research positions around the criminal justice system aimed on how to help people who come out of incarceration and recidivism rates.
What’s your favorite cuisine?
I like many cuisines. But I grew up with Czech and Persian food because of my parents so those two are my favorite.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I try to make time for friends and social get-togethers. I play a lot of dungeons and dragons; I have been playing with the same group of friends weekly for the past 5 years. It’s been such a wonderful way to keep in contact with friends who have moved away to pursue their careers.
I like reading outside when the weather is nice, and I like going on hikes. I’ve been getting back into playing video games, and I’m planning to build my own gaming PC.
What’s your favorite city?
I really like Princeton, NJ where I currently live. It’s a beautiful, quant town that feels like you’re living in a bubble, you forget that you’re in New Jersey. As a Southern California native, I love experiencing the seasons here and how easy it is to get to New York City or Philadelphia.
Where would you most like to travel to next (state/country/continent/city)?
I would love to do a Jane Austen themed trip in England.
To learn more about Neggin, and the datasets she has curated for the DCN, see her curator page!