The European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ESS ERIC) is the largest infrastructure in the Social Sciences in Europe. ESS data is publicly available and it is a pioneer in the full application of the FAIR data model and Open Science, in addition to having the ERIC distinction since 2013. Around 250,000 users use these data to analyse behaviour and opinions in 30 European countries in more than 35 languages. Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) has been a member of the Core Scientific Team since its foundation in the early 2000s, together with other universities and research centres across Europe: GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (Germany), Centerdata (Netherlands), Sikt - Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (Norway), University of Essex (United Kingdom) and ESS Headquarters at City St George's, University of London (United Kingdom).

For Dr. Zavala-Rojas "it is an honour to assume the position of Deputy Director, ESS has been my home for many years. I have been a student user, researcher, supervisor, lecturer, invited speaker and presenter, and CST Head, through these roles I know ESS very well and in different capacities. By representing ESS in settings related to open science and social sciences in general, I can promote the highest methodological standards, and reinforce ESS leadership in the field, bringing back to ESS insights into these new and complex areas. I enjoy bridging technical topics into accessible insights for broader audiences."

The role of Deputy Director (external relations) includes, among other responsibilities, representing the ESS in various European committees and fostering relationships between the ESS and other research infrastructures. Additionally, she will focus on areas related to open science. Her appointment started on 1 June 2025.

Regarding UPF, Dr. Zavala-Rojas expressed: "I wish to acknowledge the invaluable support from various UPF units, such as Secretaría, the Research Unit, and IT, among others. Their collaborative efforts have enabled me to undertake more ambitious projects over the years." 

Dr. Zavala-Rojas earned her PhD in Political and Social Sciences, specializing in comparative survey methodology, from UPF in 2016. She has over 20 years of experience working with human data and has served as an advisor to international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as to regional and national governments and institutions in various countries. As a researcher, she has contributed to multiple European-funded projects, among others, the Synergies for Europes Research Infrastructures in the Social Sciences (SERISS), the Social Sciences and Humanities Open Cloud (SSHOC), the Pilot Application in Urban Landscapes - Towards integrated city observatories for greenhouse gases (PAUL - ICOS Cities) project. She is the principal investigator of the myESS software project. Currently, she is Deputy Director of the Research and Expertise Centre for Survey Methodology (RECSM). Furthermore, she has been part of the ESS Core Scientific Team (CST) for many years. She is also an active researcher publishing regularly on methodological topics including questionnaire design, translation, data quality, data comparability and documentation of the survey lifecycle.