Pascal Belouin

Pascal Belouin serves as a Digital Humanities Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin, part of the Max Planck Society. His role focuses on providing specialized technical support to historians implementing digital methodologies in their research.

Belouin holds a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering from the University of La Rochelle, a Master of Research in Human Computer Interaction from Lancaster University, and a Master of Arts in Social Sciences from the Open University (completed in 2010).

His research interests span multiple domains within Digital Humanities, with particular expertise in knowledge modeling, distant reading techniques, network analysis, and data visualization. He is actively exploring innovative approaches to research data preservation through decentralized storage solutions, reflecting his background in software engineering and computer science.

Belouin's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on research infrastructure development, particularly in the areas of data interoperability, semantic web technologies, and sustainable preservation of research data. His work shows a progression from API development for textual resources toward more comprehensive solutions for long-term data preservation using decentralized approaches.

He is actively involved in multiple significant projects at the MPIWG including the Central Knowledge Graph (CKG), CORAL: Commoning Oral Histories of Knowledge, Heavens Map, VoH Image Database, Commoning Biomedicine, Measuring the Earth, and RISE and SHINE: Research Infrastructure for the Study of Eurasia.

Before joining the MPIWG, Belouin had significant professional experience in the private sector and held a leadership role with the Medical Schools Council Assessment Alliance, where he spearheaded the design and implementation of the MSCAA Item Bank—a comprehensive web-based platform enhancing collaboration across the UK's medical assessment community.