Dr Martin Szomszor
Founder and Chief Scientist
“I started Electric Data Solutions because I wanted to remain close to the research. I found that more senior roles took me further away from the intriguing aspects of the job and I missed working closely with clients to understand their individual needs.
“I’ve always been fascinated by science and found my way into research after getting a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Southampton. My original focus was in data science, but I’ve always been interested in other disciplines and found the greatest reward came from applying my skills in other fields. I worked for a number of years as a Research Fellow before becoming the Deputy head of the City eHealth Research Centre in London.
“In 2011, I took the opportunity for a new challenge, leaving academia and joining Digital Science to work on technology to support academic research. During this time, I worked with universities, publishers and funders, and eventually ended up running the consultancy team.
“One key project I managed was the delivery of the 2014 impact case study database for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). This was the first time a large database was constructed that documented how research outcomes impacted the wider population and provided an invaluable resource for future science-of-science studies. I was named a 2015 top-50 UK Information Age data leader for this work and continue to utilise the data today in analytical studies.
“From 2018-21, I was Director at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate where I focussed on bibliometric data and how it should be properly interpreted in a research management setting. This is a challenging task as many are seduced into using citation metrics as a simplistic measuring instrument. To me, the most interesting and valuable aspect of the citation network is that it shows how research is evolving, which new topics are thriving, and how basic research is ultimately utilized.
“I’m also passionate about music and have played in many bands over the years including folk, big band, jazz, progressive metal, and hard rock. This was the inspiration for the company name “Electric” Data Solutions because the adoption of electric instruments and amplification gave rise to my favourite genre of all, rock!
You can find a list of Martin’s academic publications on his Google Scholar profile.