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CESSDA - The Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives

The Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA ERIC) provides comprehensive, integrated and sustainable data services to social science stakeholders. It brings together data archives from across Europe to support research and collaboration at national and international levels. Having grown from a network of European service providers into a legal entity and infrastructure under the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), CESSDA was granted ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) status in 2017. CESSDA is funded by the research ministries of each member state or a contracted institution. Its headquarters are located in Bergen, Norway.

Goals and Strategy of CESSDA

CESSDA's vision is to be a hub for data in the social sciences and to provide a reliable platform with tools and services for researchers to curate, publish and reuse research data. CESSDA has agreed to the principles of the European Open Science Cloud Declaration and is committed to actively supporting the implementation of FAIR data. Four CESSDA working groups, together with the main office, are supporting progress and developments:

  • Deposit or retrieve data in an uncomplicated way - this is one of the goals of CESSDA. The "Tools" working group ensures that users always find a flawless technical infrastructure that is easy to use.
  • CESSDA supports the continuous training of service providers and the user community. The "Training" working group relies on the train-the-trainer principle, and the areas covered include research data management, archiving, and CESSDA tools.
  • CESSDA strengthens trust in social science research through quality assurance and reusability of data. The "Trust" Working Group supports CESSDA service providers on the path to becoming a Trusted Repository.
  • CESSDA is growing - and developing a Pan-European collaboration that goes beyond the current membership. The "Widening and Outreach" working group is laying the groundwork for this by, for example, creating a common meeting platform for CESSDA partners, their ministerial and service representatives, and CESSDA headquarters through workshops. In addition, the working group provides information on CESSDA products, tools and support opportunities and promotes the visibility of CESSDA in third countries. 

For more information, please visit the CESSDA website.