Structure and Governance
ESS ERIC Governance Arrangements
General Assembly, Boards and Committees
The ESS ERIC is governed by a General Assembly which appoints the Director. The governance arrangements are detailed in the ESS ERIC Statutes and are elaborated as required in the Standing Orders.
The ESS ERIC adheres to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy of City St George's, University of London, UK (the Host Institution of the ESS ERIC), as per a signed declaration (19 September 2023).
The Commission Implementing Decision setting up the ESS as an ERIC was published on 30 November 2013.
The activities of the ESS ERIC are detailed in its annual activity reports. Read the latest report: Annual Activity Report 2022-23.
The ESS Strategic Plan 2024-29: The Road to a Sustainable Self-Completion Future was adopted by the ESS General Assembly on 11 April 2024.
Members of the General Assembly are represented by a National Representative. The Chair of the General Assembly is Professor Ann-Helén Bay, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. The Deputy Chair is Dr Susanna Bylin, Swedish Research Council, Sweden.
The General Assembly has four standing committees: a Scientific Advisory Board, a Methods Advisory Board, a Funding, Governance and Strategy Working Group (FGSWG) and a Finance Committee. More information on their activity and membership can be found below.
- Austria: Julia Prikoszovits, Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research
- Belgium: Bart Dumolyn, delegated representative from the Flemish Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (representing the Flemish Community); Aziz Naji, delegate for the FPS Science policy (representing the federal government); and Florence Vandendorpe, delegated representative from the Federation Wallonia-Brussels (representing the French-speaking Community)
- Bulgaria: Yumer Kodzhayumer, Science Directorate, Ministry of Education and Science
- Croatia: Staša Skenžić, Ministry of Science and Education
- Cyprus: Christina Miltiadous, Deputy Ministry for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
- Czechia: Naďa Drizga, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
- Estonia: Marion Pajumets, Ministry of Social Affairs
- Finland: Päivi Messo, Academy of Finland
- France: Francis Bloch, Paris School of Economics, on behalf of the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation
- Germany: Katharina Pijnenburg, Federal Ministry of Education and Research
- Hungary: Tamás Takács, National Research, Development and Innovation Office
- Iceland: Guðbjörg Andrea Jónsdóttir, University of Iceland
- Ireland: Dr Marina Milic, Irish Research Council
- Israel: Dr Alex Altshuler, Ministry of Science and Technology
- Italy: Natale Forlani, National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP)
- Latvia: Edvards Francis Kuks, Ministry of Education and Science
- Lithuania: Associate Professor Aurelija Stelmokienė, delegated representative of the Research Council of Lithuania
- Montenegro: Marica Melović, Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation
- Netherlands: Merve Tosun, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
- Norway: Ministry of Education and Research, represented by Siv Johnsen Soriano, Research Council of Norway
- Poland: Michał Jabczuga, Ministry of Science and Higher Education
- Portugal: Analia Torres, University of Lisbon
- Serbia: Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, represented by Dr. Goran Bašić, Institute of Social Sciences
- Slovak Republic: Simona Foltinová, Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic
- Republic of Slovenia: Dr. Albin Kralj, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (MVZI)
- Spain: Marían Rodríguez Parrilla, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities
- Sweden: Susanna Bylin, delegated representative from the Swedish Research Council
- UK: Beccy Shipman, Economic and Social Research Council, UK Research and Innovation (Host Country)
Switzerland is an Observer and is represented by Lea Bühlmann, State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.
Countries with Guest status in Round 10 included Greece, represented by Dr. Nicolas Demertzis, National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), Montenegro, represented by Professor Ilija Vujačić, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, and North Macedonia, represented by Borco Aleksov, Ministry of Education and Science.
Countries with Guest status in Round 11 include Greece, represented by the Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation and Ukraine, represented by Dmytro Zavgorodniy, Vice Minister of Education & Science - funded by the ESS General Assembly.
- Professor Dana Hamplová, Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
- Professor Karsten Hank, WISO, University of Cologne, Germany
- Professor Hester van Herk, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Professor Elisabeth Ivarsflaten, University of Bergen, Norway
- Professor Willem de Koster, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Professor Luisa Lima, ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal
- Professor Caroline Rapp, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Professor Kjell Gunnar Salvanes, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Norway
- Professor Åsa von Schoultz, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Dr. Tom Smith, National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, USA.
- Professor Michael Bosnjak, University of Trier, Germany, Germany
- Dr. Marieke Haan, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Professor Johan Martinsson, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
- Dr. Olga Maslovskaya, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
- Professor Caroline Roberts, University of Lausanne and FORS - Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences, Switzerland
- Professor Nicolas Sauger, Sciences Po, France
- Professor Signe Bock Segaard, Institute for Social Research, Norway
- Professor Bella Struminskaya, Utrecht University, Netherlands
- Beccy Shipman, Economic and Social Research Council, UK Research and Innovation, UK (Chair, national representative)
- Professor Michael Healy, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland (external expert)
- Dr. Eckard Kämper, DFG, Germany (external expert)
- Professor Ann-Helén Bay
- Dr Susanna Bylin
- Beccy Shipman
Director and Committees of the Director
The ESS ERIC Headquarters are hosted by City St George's, University of London (UK). The Centre was established in 2003 by its Founding Director Roger Jowell, who led it until his death in December 2011.
Prior to October 2003, the ESS was hosted by the National Centre for Social Research, whose generous support and development made the project possible.
- Professor Rory Fitzgerald (Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Eric Harrison (Deputy Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Gianmaria Bottoni, Esther Bourne, Dr. Ruxandra Comănaru, Niccolò Ghirelli, Tim Hanson, Claire Higgins, Mary Keane, Loren Ma, Nhlanhla Ndebele, Lewis Payne, Nathan Reece, Dr. Lorna Ryan, Victoria Salinero-Bevins and Stefan Swift
The Director, Professor Rory Fitzgerald, is supported in the design and implementation of the ESS ERIC Work Programme by the Core Scientific Team (CST), comprising eight institutions. These are:
- ESS ERIC HQ, City St George's, University of London (UK)
- Centerdata (Netherlands)
- GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (Germany)
- Sikt - Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (Norway)
- SCP - The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (Netherlands)
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain)
- University of Essex (UK)
- University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
- Deputy Director: Dr. Eric Harrison, ESS ERIC HQ, City St George's, University of London
- Deputy Director - External: Dr. Angelika Scheuer, GESIS
More information on the membership of the Core Scientific Team can be found below.
- ESS ERIC HQ, City St George's, University of London (UK):Professor Rory Fitzgerald (Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Eric Harrison (Deputy Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Gianmaria Bottoni, Esther Bourne, Dr. Ruxandra Comănaru, Niccolò Ghirelli, Tim Hanson, Claire Higgins, Mary Keane, Loren Ma, Nhlanhla Ndebele, Lewis Payne, Nathan Reece, Dr. Lorna Ryan, Victoria Salinero-Bevins and Stefan Swift
- Centerdata (Netherlands): Professor Marcel Das, Eric Balster, Dr. Marika de Bruijne, Maurice Martens, Marlen Paulitti, Sebastiaan Pennings and Iggy van der Wielen
- GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (Germany): Dr. Angelika Scheuer, Roberto Briceño-Rosas and Dr. Brita Dorer
- Sikt - Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (Norway): Dr. Bodil Agasøster, Ms Gyrid Havåg Bergseth and Mr Ole-Petter Øvrebø
- SCP - The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (Netherlands): Dr. Joost Kappelhof, Dr. Paulette Flore and Dr. Jannine van de Maat
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain): Dr. Diana Zavala-Rojas and Dr. Melanie Revilla
- University of Essex (UK): Professor Peter Lynn and Dr. Olena Kaminska
- University of Ljubljana (Slovenia): Dr. Brina Malnar and Dr. May Doušak
The Director also convenes a National Coordinators’ Forum, attended by the National Coordinators appointed by ESS ERIC Members, Observers and Guests. More information on the National Coordinators can be found below.
- Albania: Alban Nelaj
- Austria: Dr. Peter Grand, Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS)
- Belgium: Professor Bart Meuleman, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Professor Pierre Baudewyns, University of Louvain
- Bulgaria: Professor Venelin Boshnakov, University of National and World Economy
- Croatia: Professor Dragan Bagić, University of Zagreb
- Cyprus: Dr. Stelios Stylianou, Cyprus University of Technology
- Czechia: Dr. Klára Plecitá, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences
- Denmark: Torben Fridberg, VIVE – The Danish Center for Social Science Research
- Estonia: Sabina Trankmann, University of Tartu
- Finland: Professor Heikki Ervasti, University of Turku
- France: Agnalys Michaud and Emiliano Grossman, Sciences Po
- Georgia: Alexandre Tsagareli, Georgian American University
- Germany: Dr. Oshrat Hochman, GESIS – Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences
- Greece: Manina Kakepaki, National Centre for Social Research (EKKE)
- Hungary: Dr. Bence Ságvári, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Iceland: Professor Sigrún Ólafsdóttir, University of Iceland
- Ireland: Professor Philip O'Connell, Professor Mathew Creighton and Dr. Micheál Collins, UCD
- Israel: Dr. Irit Adler, B. I. Cohen Inst. for Public Opinion Research at Tel-Aviv University
- Italy: Sveva Balduini, National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP)
- Latvia: Dr. Jurijs Ņikišins, University of Latvia
- Lithuania: Dr. Apolonijus Žilys, Vytautas Magnus University
- Montenegro: Jadranka Kaludjerovic, ISSP - Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses
- Netherlands: Dr. Tim Reeskens, Tilburg University
- North Macedonia: Aneta Cekikj, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University
- Norway: Sveinung Arnesen, University of Bergen (UiB)
- Poland: Dr. Michal Kotnarowski, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Portugal: Dr. Alice Ramos, Institute of Social Sciences (ICS), University of Lisbon
- Serbia: Vera Backović and Vladimir Mentus, University of Belgrade
- Slovak Republic: Denisa Fedakova, Institute of Social Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences
- Slovenia: Dr. Slavko Kurdija, University of Ljubljana
- Spain: Pablo Oñate, University of Valencia on behalf of Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS)
- Sweden: Professor Mikael Hjerm, Umeå University
- Switzerland: Dr. Michèle Ernst Stähli, FORS - Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences
- Ukraine: Tymofii Brik, Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) and Andrii Gorbachyk, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
- UK: Alun Humphrey, NatCen Social Research