Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The best way is to email us at training(at)gesis(dot)org.

Please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to provide you with advice!

You can find a list of all our upcoming courses here. For each course, the course website gives additional detail on the course content and prerequisites.

Please refer to the courses you booked on our course website. On each site you will find detailed information on the course contents including a day-to-day schedule and relevant literature. Most instructors explicitly list preparatory readings that helps you prepare for the course. (For the Spring Seminar, Summer School, and Methods Seminar, most of the literature will be made available electronically on our online learning platform ILIAS before the start of the course.)

First, please make sure that you know where—that is, in which city and building—your event takes place. There are two GESIS locations, one in Mannheim and one in Cologne: Events that are held in Cologne include the GESIS Spring Seminar, the GESIS Summer School, and some of the workshops. The GESIS Fall Seminar and many other workshops are held in Mannheim.

In Cologne, the GESIS building is within walking distance (about five minutes) from Cologne main station and easy to find.

In Mannheim, our training events take place at the GESIS building at B6, 4-5 in 68159 Mannheim (yeah, there are no street names in the city center of Mannheim but the (in)famous squares).

For further information on how to get there and the event locations, please follow this link.

Please note that we cannot provide accommodation for participants of our training events. Both Mannheim and Cologne offer a rich choice of hotels, bed and breakfasts, as well as private apartments or rooms. If you need help in finding accommodation, please send us an email (training(at)gesis(dot)org).

GESIS does not have any facilities for luggage storage. Therefore, please bring your luggage to the hotel before arriving at the venue and pick it up at the hotel after the event. The train stations in Mannheim and Cologne, which are also located near the event rooms, also have luggage storage facilities.

Depending on where you come from, you may have to provide a formal obligation when applying for a visa at the German embassy. Please inquire at your nearest German embassy which documents you need for your visa application and let us know as soon as possible whether a simple letter of invitation is sufficient, or if you will need a formal obligation.

GESIS can provide you with a letter of invitation but we cannot obtain formal obligations.

Yes, wireless internet is available at GESIS. Every participant will receive login information on the first day.

Most participants use our Eduroam-connection.

The main purpose of ILIAS is to easily distribute teaching materials and to foster communication among participants and lecturers.

In addition, via ILIAS we provide you with all necessary information about your participation in the training event of your choice. For longer events that attract a considerable share of participants from abroad, we typically also provide information about affordable accommodation and your stay in Cologne or Mannheim.

How to access ILIAS:

1. Go to https://ilias.gesis.org.
2. Select "English" in the drop-down menu on the bottom of the page.
3. If you have an account at ILIAS already (e.g., because you attended a training event in past years), please use the same username and password. If you have forgotten your password/username, there is a "forgot password" and a "forgot username" link right below the login fields that allows to reset password/username.
4. If you are using ILIAS for the first time, select "New Account Registration."
5. Fill in the form:
   • Please use your real first and last name, since these will be matched with your registration information to establish which course materials you will have access to;
   • Please consider writing a few words about your research and methods interests;
   • Read and accept the user agreement;
   • Submit by clicking the "Register" button.
6. Go to Repository (menu on the upper left) and find the folder corresponding to your training event (e.g., “Summer School 2023” or “Geospatial Techniques for Social Scientists in R”).
7. If you are participating in a workshop or similar independent training event, select the corresponding entry and click "join" in the "Actions" menu. If you are participating in an event that features multiple courses—e.g., the GESIS Summer School, the Spring Seminar, or the Methods Seminar--click your way through folders and, possibly, subfolders and search for the courses you are registered for. Click "join" in the "Actions" menu for each of your courses. Note that we cannot grant you access tocourses you have not signed up for.
8. Wait until we give you access - you will receive a confirmation email. Please note that this may take a couple of days. If you do not hear from us within a week, please email us.

Please note that we will not provide you with hard copies of the materials available on ILIAS, so if you prefer to read/use printed material, please print what you need yourself.

Yes. If a course is fully booked, you can add your name to the waiting list by registering for the course. If a place becomes available in the course, we will contact you to discuss possible participation (usually at short notice). A place on the waiting list does not obligate you to participate should you be unable to attend by that time.

Places become available again when participants cancel their registration or when they do not pay the participation fee on time. Therefore, if a course is not heavily overbooked, it is quite likely that you may still get a place if there is still some time to go. We will inform you as soon as a place becomes available and ask you to react quickly to the offer.

Unless otherwise stated in the course information, you can register for the course as long as places are available. In exceptional cases, there is a registration deadline, which is then published on the course page.

If you are no longer able to attend the course, please notify us by phone or email:

General: training(at)gesis(dot)org

Workshops: workshops(at)gesis(dot)org

Spring Seminar: springseminar(at)gesis(dot)org

Summer School: summerschool(at)gesis(dot)org

Methods Seminar: methodsseminar(at)gesis(dot)org

Please note the cancellation policy in our terms and conditions.

Anybody motivated to learn about survey methodology is welcome to register. The Summer School is designed for PhD students and researchers at any stage of their career in the Social Sciences (broadly defined). Professionals in the area are also welcome.

However, participants benefit most from a course that matches their prior skills and knowledge. Therefore, we recommend that you carefully read the course prerequisites described on the web page of the course or in the syllabus.

In addition to course specific prerequisites, all participants are expected to:

• have basic knowledge of empirical research methods;
• have a good command of English

The course fees for all classes cover the training course itself and course materials (if applicable). Participants of classes that take place onsite at GESIS Cologne are also provided with snacks and drinks during breaks free of charge. Costs for meals, travel, and accommodation are not included in the course fees. Please make your own arrangements. We will provide you with information on local facilities.

At the end of the event, every participant who has not missed more than 20% of the course receives a certificate of participation. For a modest administrative fee (70 €) to cover the costs of grading by teachers and additional administrative work by GESIS Training staff, and successful completion of course work, participants can obtain a document acknowledging that the workload of their 5-day course is worth 4 ECTS credit points.

You can change courses up to the end of the first day of the course if the desired course has a free place. Please email us to do so. Changing courses later is not recommended and is only possible if the instructors of the desired course agree.

To avoid changing courses, we recommend that you carefully read the course syllabus before registering to ensure that the course suits your needs and interests. If after reading the course description, you are still not sure if it’s the right course for you, please send us an email (summerschool(at)gesis(dot)org).

Thanks to funding by partners such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) or the European Survey Research Association (ESRA), we are often able to offer scholarships. For more information visit our site on scholarships.

The ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Commission is open to many students seeking funding for higher education. Please inquire at your home university/institution if you are eligible for one of the funding options. 

Furthermore, students and Ph.D. candidates who receive a scholarship can often apply to their scholarship organization or research council for a grant to subsidize or cover the costs of attending events like the GESIS Summer School. Please enquire with your scholarship organization or research council.

Some university departments, graduate schools, doctoral programs and research training groups may also provide small-scale grants for attending training events. Please ask your local mentor or supervisor. Research projects funded through third-party funds may also include a budget to cover members' training needs.

For UK-based Social Scientists, there are training bursaries available from the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM).

During the Summer School you are welcome to use:

• The GESIS library, where you can find the literature listed in your course syllabus
• The courtyard, if you want to take your work or group discussion outside
• Wireless internet, which is available in the whole building as well as in the courtyard. Every summer school participant will receive login information when checking in on the first day.

You can find information about past Summer School courses in our archive.

No generalizations can be made about the weather in August. In previous years, we have sweated at temperatures above 30° Celsius, but also had rather inconsistent weather with a mixture of rainy and sunny days. Temperatures in the mid-twenties are most likely. Air conditioning is limited in Germany. Be prepared for rainy days or rain showers and low temperatures in the evening.