Dr Mercè Crosas is the first confirmed speaker for the International Archives Congress—ICA Barcelona 2025, which will take place from 27 to 30 October at the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) under the theme “Knowing Pasts, Creating Futures”. Her presentation is scheduled for the official opening day, 28 October. Dr. Crosas is a renowned scientist and technologist who specialises in data science and information management.
Dr. Crosas currently heads the Computational Social Sciences and Humanities programme at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), where she leads projects that apply supercomputing, artificial intelligence, and big data analysis to the study of human societies. She also chairs CODATA, the Data Committee of the International Science Council (Merce Crosas Navarro, BSC-CNS) and is affiliated with the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University.
Mercè Crosas at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC). As Director of the newly established Computational Social Sciences and Humanities programme at BSC-CNS, Dr Crosas promotes the integration of cutting-edge computing technologies and AI to better understand complex social phenomena (Mercè Crosas joins the BSC as head of the new Computational Social Sciences programme | BSC-CNS).
Professional Career
Dr Crosas spent the majority of her career at Harvard University (USA), where she began as an astrophysics researcher and scientific software developer. Over the years, she transitioned into leadership roles in data management, becoming Director of Data Science and Technology at the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science and later Head of Research Data Management for the entire university.
Beyond academia, she has collaborated with companies in the biotechnology and education sectors, leading data systems development teams and applying her expertise in data science to real-world challenges.
In 2021, she returned to Catalonia to serve as Secretary of Transparency and Open Government for the Catalan Government, a role she held until 2022. In this position, she led initiatives on open data policy, institutional transparency, and citizen participation within the Catalan government.
In early 2023, she joined the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre-National Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS) to head the new Computational Social Sciences and Humanities programme, an area dedicated to leveraging big data and AI in the social sciences and humanities, powered by the centre’s supercomputing infrastructure.
Academic Background and Contributions
Dr Crosas holds a degree in Physics from the University of Barcelona and a PhD in Astrophysics from Rice University (Houston, Texas). During her graduate studies, she conducted both predoctoral and postdoctoral research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, focusing on the computational analysis of astrophysical data. This strong foundation in physical and computational sciences provided the analytical and technological expertise that she would later apply to data science and its application in the social sciences.
She has contributed to numerous international committees and working groups focused on open data, data governance, and standards for scientific data sharing. Notably, she is a co-author of key global initiatives such as the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and the principles for the citation of research data, now adopted as international standards. She also contributed to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommendations supporting open access to public research data.
Dr. Crosas’s work is distinguished by her commitment to scientific transparency and data reuse, combining technical insight with a public policy perspective. As president of CODATA, she leads global efforts to improve the accessibility and usability of data across all scientific fields, advocating for it as a global public good.
References:
- Barcelona Supercomputing Centre – Merce Crosas Navarro (perfil institucional) (Merce Crosas Navarro | BSC-CNS).
- Barcelona Supercomputing Centre – Mercè Crosas joins the BSC as head of the new Computational Social Sciences programme (noticia, 31 May 2023) (Mercè Crosas joins the BSC as head of the new Computational Social Sciences programme | BSC-CNS).
- Barcelona Supercomputing Centre – Mercè Crosas, elected new President of the Committee on Data of the International Science Council (noticia, 06 Nov 2023) (Mercè Crosas, elected new President of the Committee on Data of the International Science Council | BSC-CNS).
- CSUC (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) – La TAC de los datos 2021 (perfil de ponente: Mercè Crosas) (La TAC de los datos | CSUC).
