FORS is the Swiss centre of expertise in the social sciences.

We support social science research by collecting and providing survey data for Swiss and international research projects, building on our expertise in designing and implementing surveys.

We ensure the long-term archiving and open dissemination of research data, and offer methodological, data management, and technical support.

We foster national and international collaborations and actively promote Open Research Data to encourage data sharing and reuse.

FIND & DEPOSIT DATA

STAFF

OPEN POSITIONS

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Events

Advanced Skills for Research Data Management and Open Science in Social Sciences

01/06/2026 - 05/06/2026

Join our on-campus course to master data management planning, ethical and legal aspects, reproducibility, and data sharing in the social sciences. The course is led by experts from FORS, UNIL and USI.

Call for papers: Conference “Social Monitoring and Reporting in Europe”, Villa Vigoni, Italy

12/06/2026

20th Anniversary Conference – Social Monitoring and Reporting in Europe: Exploring past developments and future challenges in well-being, quality of life, and social monitoring in Europe (October 5-7, 2026).

FORS-DaSCH webinar on Authorship, Copyright & Licenses

29/09/2026

This webinar introduces the key legal, ethical, and practical aspects of rights management in research data stewardship for the humanities and social sciences.

All Events

News

Data Live: Book Your Expert Consultation Need advice on managing and sharing your social science research data? Join Data Live, our free one-to-one online consultation service, and receive personalised guidance from experts in data management, ethics, anonymisation, and data sharing. Read more	Submit your questions to SELECTS 2027 Researchers now have the opportunity to include new questions in the various surveys that will be conducted during and after the election year. Read more
The Swiss Household Panel Workshop 2026 The next Swiss Household Panel (SHP) workshop will take place from the 2nd to the 4th of June 2026 at the University of Lausanne. Register now. Read more	The FORS Annual Report 2025 is now available We have just published our 2025 FORS Annual Report, which provides an overview of our main activities and developments over the past year. Read more