Sonal R. Patel

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT SONAL R. PATEL

I am a Data Steward at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, a materials discovery facility, where I work at the intersection of science, data, and infrastructure to make scientific data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).Previously, as a Postdoctoral Scientist at IJCLab (CNRS, France), I conducted research in gamma-ray astronomy, analyzing astrophysical data using Python and HEASARC, NASA’s high-energy astrophysics data archive. I contributed to NectarCAM, the camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), and authored peer-reviewed scientific publications in high-energy astrophysics.Before joining CNRS, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), where I worked on V2DL3, a data format conversion tool aimed at standardizing VERITAS telescope data using the Gamma-ray AstroData Format (GADF)—an effort toward greater interoperability in astronomical data analysis.I hold a PhD in Physics (Gamma-ray Astronomy) from the University of Mumbai and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. My doctoral research focused on multi-instrument and multi-satellite data analysis, developing the expertise to integrate complex datasets and extract scientifically meaningful insights.Interests: Research data management, FAIR data, scientific data standards, open science, data-driven systems, and data-intensive research.