LUMEN Voices: MWS
In this series, we share short interviews to introduce you to the diverse partners contributing to our LUMEN vision. Each month, we’ll shine a spotlight on two of our partners—offering a glimpse into who they are, what they do, and what drives their work within LUMEN. In this edition, Sona Arasteh answered our questions.
Can you briefly introduce your organisation and its role within the LUMEN project?
I work for Max Weber Stiftung (MWS), one of the leading agencies supporting German research in the humanities and social sciences abroad. MWS finances scientifically autonomous institutes all around the world. In LUMEN, MWS is responsible for Work Package 8 “Communication and Dissemination”. That includes responsibility for the project branding, public relations, streamlining the project’s communication and dissemination efforts, as well as the planning and implementation of LUMEN’s communication and dissemination strategy.
What is the most exciting aspect of your contribution to LUMEN, and how does it align with your organisation’s mission or values?
What I do like most about the work related to communication and dissemination is that it gives you a decidedly transversal perspective on a project. With that in mind, I would say: the most exciting aspect of my work for LUMEN is that we, the team working on communication and dissemination, get to see how the individual parts and actions of the project come together coherently first.
LUMEN is all about interdisciplinary collaboration. How do you envision the project transforming the way research is
As someone with a background in the humanities, I’m used to thinking of scientific disciplines in a more fragmented manner. Therefore, for me, the biggest challenge – and opportunity – is to think of research infrastructure enabling collaboration not only on a transdisciplinary level but, indeed, on a cross-domain level.
Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond, what impact do you hope the LUMEN project will have on the broader research community and beyond?
I hope that with the infrastructure and tools LUMEN is building (e.g. Data Mesh, White Label Discovey Platform), researchers and scientists from various scientific domains will be working together more effectively, seamlessly and more aware of what is happening beyond the borders of their respective disciplines.