FONDATION SUISSE POUR LA RECHERCHE EN SCIENCES SOCIALES

Their core work

FORS is Switzerland's national centre of expertise in the social sciences, specializing in survey-based research, data archiving, and making social science datasets accessible and reusable. Within H2020, they contribute to building and strengthening European research infrastructures for social science data — including data archiving standards, FAIR data practices, and open science frameworks. Their work ensures that social science research data collected across Europe can be preserved, shared, and reused by the broader research community. They also participate in training programmes for research infrastructure professionals.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

FORS began its H2020 participation (2015-2017) focused on consolidating core social science data infrastructure — strengthening the CESSDA archive network and building cross-border data sharing capacity through SERISS and CESSDA-SaW. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward open science, FAIR data, and integration with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), reflecting the broader EU push toward federated data ecosystems. Most recently (2021+), they expanded into research infrastructure workforce development through RItrainPlus, suggesting a maturing role from infrastructure user to infrastructure capacity builder.

FORS is moving from a data archive contributor toward a broader role in open science ecosystems and research infrastructure professional training, making them increasingly relevant for EOSC and cross-disciplinary data initiatives.

How they like to work

FORS exclusively participates as a third party in H2020 projects, meaning they are linked through a primary beneficiary (likely a parent institution such as the University of Lausanne) rather than holding grants directly. Despite this formal status, they contribute to large-scale consortia — their 151 unique partners across 30 countries indicate deep integration into the European research infrastructure community. Their consistent participation in flagship infrastructure projects (CESSDA, SSHOC, EOSC) suggests they are a trusted specialist that major consortia actively seek out.

FORS has collaborated with 151 unique partners across 30 countries, giving them one of the broadest networks in the social science infrastructure space. Their reach spans nearly all EU member states plus associated countries, rooted in pan-European data infrastructure projects.

What sets them apart

FORS occupies a distinctive niche as Switzerland's national competence centre for social science research data, giving it both deep domain expertise and a national mandate that few organizations can match. As a non-EU country participant, their consistent inclusion in major EU infrastructure projects (CESSDA, SSHOC, EOSC Future) signals that they bring irreplaceable expertise that consortia need. For anyone building a consortium around social science data, survey methodology, or FAIR data practices in the humanities and social sciences, FORS is one of the go-to partners in Europe.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SSHOC
  Flagship project integrating Social Sciences & Humanities into the European Open Science Cloud, positioning FORS at the intersection of SSH and EOSC.
• EOSC Future
  One of the largest EOSC implementation projects, giving FORS direct involvement in shaping Europe's federated open science infrastructure.
• RItrainPlus
  Represents FORS's expansion into training the next generation of research infrastructure professionals — a strategic shift from data management to human capital.