Structure and Governance
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 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 2021-2022.
Members of the General Assembly are represented by a National Representative. The Chair of the General Assembly is Professor Michael Breen, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. The Deputy Chair is Dr Susanna Bylin, Swedish Research Council, Sweden.
The General Assembly has three standing committees: a Scientific Advisory Board, a Methods Advisory Board and a Finance Committee. More information on their activity and membership can be found below.
ESS ERIC General Assembly, National Representatives
- 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 Dr Martin Degand, 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: Eleana Gabriel, Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
- Czechia: Naďa Drizga, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
- Estonia: Erle Rikmann, Analysis and Statistics Department, Ministry of Social Affairs
- Finland: Päivi Messo, Academy of Finland
- France: Eleonora Zuolo, 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: Professor Sigrún Ólafsdóttir, University of Iceland
- Ireland: Rosemary Sweeney, Irish Research Council
- Israel: Dr Alex Altshuler, Ministry of Science and Technology
- Italy: Sebastiano Fadda, National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP)
- Latvia: Diāna Laipniece, Ministry of Education and Science
- Lithuania: Associate Professor Aurelija Stelmokienė, delegated representative of the Research Council of Lithuania
- Montenegro: Milena Milonjić, Ministry of Science and Technological Development
- Netherlands: Joris Voskuilen, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
- Norway: Ministry of Education and Research, represented by Siri H. Hollekim Haaland, Research Council of Norway
- Poland: Anna Głąbska, Ministry of Education and Science
- Portugal: Analia Torres, University of Lisbon
- Serbia: Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, represented by Dr. Goran Bašić, Institute of Social Sciences
- Slovak Republic: Robert Szabó, Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic
- Slovenia: Dr. Albin Kralj, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport
- Spain: Marían Rodríguez Parrilla, Ministry of Science and Innovation
- 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 Georgia, represented by Bakar Berekashvili, Georgian American University, 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 Georgia, represented by Bakar Berekashvili, Georgian American University, Greece, represented by the Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation, Kosovo, represented by Kaltrina Kelmendi, University of Pristina.
ESS ERIC Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) comprises eight members, appointed by the General Assembly following nominations from its Members.
- Chair: Professor Christian Staerklé, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
- Deputy Chair: Professor Hajo Boomgaarden, University of Vienna, Austria
- Professor Patrizia Catellani, Catholic University of Milan, Italy
- Professor Dana Hamplová, Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
- Professor Karsten Hank, WISO, University of Cologne, Germany
- Dr. Pedro Magalhães, University of Lisbon, Portugal
- Professor Caroline Rapp, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Dr. Tom Smith, National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, USA
The ESS ERIC Director, Rory Fitzgerald (ESS ERIC HQ at City, University of London) and the ESS ERIC Deputy Director - Scientific, Dr. Angelika Scheuer (Core Scientific Team - GESIS) attend SAB meetings as observers.
ESS ERIC Methods Advisory Board (MAB)
The Methods Advisory Board (MAB) advises the General Assembly, the Director and the Core Scientific Team on technical and methodological aspects of the survey. It comprises six members, appointed by the General Assembly following nominations from its Members.
- Chair: Professor Caroline Roberts, University of Lausanne and FORS - Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences, Switzerland
- Deputy Chair: Professor Johan Martinsson, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
- Professor Michael Bosnjak, Leibniz Institute for Psychology, Germany
- Professor Giancarlo Gasperoni, University of Bologna, Italy
- Professor Sylvia Kritzinger, University of Vienna, Austria
- Professor Edith de Leeuw, Utrecht University, Netherlands
The ESS ERIC Director, Rory Fitzgerald (ESS ERIC HQ at City, University of London) attends MAB meetings as an observer.
ESS ERIC Finance Committee (FINCOM)
The Finance Committee (FINCOM) is comprised of four members, two of which are National Representatives at the General Assembly. FINCOM advises the General Assembly and the Director on the financial health of the ESS ERIC. There are currently two vacancies on the Committee
- Beccy Shipman, Economic and Social Research Council, UK Research and Innovation, UK (Chair, national representative)
- Diāna Laipniece, Ministry of Education and Science, Latvia (national representative)
- Professor Michael Healy, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland (external expert)
- Dr. Eckard Kämper, DFG, Germany (external expert)
The ESS ERIC Director, Rory Fitzgerald (ESS ERIC HQ at City, University of London) attends FINCOM meetings as observer.
Director and Committees of the Director
The ESS ERIC Headquarters are hosted by City, 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.
The current complement of staff at ESS ERIC HQ is:
- Professor Rory Fitzgerald (Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Eric Harrison (Deputy Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Gianmaria Bottoni, Esther Bourne, Ruxandra Comanaru, Niccolò Ghirelli, Tim Hanson, Claire Higgins, Mary Keane, Jasmine Mitchell, Siobhan O'Muircheartaigh, Nathan Reece, Dr. Lorna Ryan 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 seven institutions. These are:
Deputy Directors are in post in two institutions:
- Deputy Director: Dr. Eric Harrison, ESS ERIC HQ, City, University of London
- Deputy Director - External: Dr. Angelika Scheuer, GESIS
More information on the membership of the CST can be found below.
ESS ERIC Core Scientific Team (CST), institutions and members
- ESS ERIC HQ, City, University of London (UK):Professor Rory Fitzgerald (Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Eric Harrison (Deputy Director, ESS ERIC), Dr. Gianmaria Bottoni, Esther Bourne, Ruxandra Comanaru, Niccolò Ghirelli, Tim Hanson, Claire Higgins, Mary Keane, Jasmine Mitchell, Siobhan O'Muircheartaigh, Nathan Reece, Dr. Lorna Ryan 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.
ESS National Coordinators (NCs)
- 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: Liisa Talving, University of Tartu
- Finland: Professor Heikki Ervasti, University of Turku
- France: Nicolas Sauger and Agnalys Michaud, Sciences Po
- Georgia: Alexandre Tsagareli, Georgian American University
- Germany: Dr. Oshrat Hochman, GESIS – Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences
- Greece: Dr. Theoni Stathopoulou and Dr. Joanna Tsiganou, National Centre for Social Research (EKKE)
- Hungary: Dr. Bence Ságvári, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Iceland: Guðbjörg Andrea Jónsdóttir, University of Iceland
- Ireland: Professor Philip O'Connell, Professor Mathew Creighton and Dr. Micheál Collins, UCD
- Israel: Dr. Sigal Alon, B. I. Cohen Inst. for Public Opinion Research at Tel-Aviv University
- Italy: Sveva Balduini, National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP)
- Kosovo: Besjanë Krasniqi, Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Kaltrina Kelmendi, University of Pristina
- Latvia: Dr. Jurijs Ņikišins, University of Latvia
- Lithuania: Dr. Apolonijus Žilys, Vytautas Magnus University
- Montenegro: Dr. Olivera Komar, University of Montenegro
- Netherlands: Professor Aat Liefbroer, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)
- 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: Dr. Dragan Stanojević, University of Belgrade
- Slovakia: Professor Jozef Výrost, 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