The Knowledge Catalyst is a podcast and an Open Science Community project, where we hear from the voices of researchers about how they tackle some of the biggest challenges in their field with open science.

We get to know EMBL’s open science champions, in how and why they started their open science journey. Each episode is a starter pack with useful resources and links for applying open science and the FAIR principles in a specific use case.

Episode 1

Mahnoor Zulfiqar: Tackling the bottleneck in metabolomics with a FAIR computational workflow.

In this episode of The Knowledge Catalyst, Dr. Mahnoor Zulfiqar, postdoctoral fellow at EMBL, shares how she builds FAIR computational workflows to tackle challenges in metabolomics. From identifying unknown compounds using marine-derived metabolites to integrating tools across platforms with Docker and CWL, Mahnoor’s work enhances reproducibility and supports drug discovery. We explore how standardized, interoperable workflows can improve confidence in data analysis—and rebuild public trust in science.

Episode 2

Jean-Karim Heriché: Open Science must be the standard for modern research

In this episode of the Knowledge Catalyst, Jean-Karim Heriché (JK), the Computational Support at EMBL’s Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, shares insights from his career on how to make your data FAIR and your research more reproducible. He emphasizes that open science begins with consistent, thorough documentation, essential for managing datasets of any size or complexity. JK also advocates for more dedicated resources and support for scientists, recognizing data stewardship as a core part of their work.