The New Data Spaces for the Social Sciences programme aims to drive a surge in innovation by improving, enhancing and combining existing panel data infrastructures and emerging data sources to develop new data spaces for social science research. It integrates and consolidates skills, knowledge and expertise from different fields of empirical social research and computer science and provides the means to test new methods and procedures of data generation and data analytics.
This DFG Infrastructure Priority Programme's objectives are twofold:
Develop best-practice examples of data generation, data collection and data integration to enhance data quality.
Anchor innovations in existing panel studies, new data collection programmes and data analytic approaches.
It is a long-term funding scheme, comprising two three-year project funding periods. The first project funding period began in 2024. The second project funding period will be 2027-2030. The Infrastructure Priority Programme funding line allows for an extension of the programme for a second six-year funding phase for which the Programme Committee applied.
New Data Spaces is managed by the Programme Committee, consisting of Prof. Dr. Cordula Artelt (Spokesperson), Prof. Dr. Corinna Kleinert, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Pollak, Prof. Dr. Stefan Liebig, and Prof. Dr. Alexander Mehler, and the Managing Director Dr. Wiebke Weber.
Missed our first New Data Spaces Dialogue? The recording is now available. Explore key insights on integrating data donations into panel studies at scale.
Bringing together researchers from across the programme for this in-person event is a highlight of the year.
On 23-24 January 2025, the CONNECT project facilitated the first meeting of the New Data Spaces Junior Research Network.
SocArXiv | Rodewald, F., Keusch, F., Szafran, D., & Bach, R. L. | Sep 2026
Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology | Axenfeld, J. B., Cornesse, C., Leonard, M. M., Gerlitz, J.-Y., Witton, J., & Zinn, S. | Sep 2026
Sage Research Methods | Rodewald, F. | Aug 2026
New Data Spaces | Reports , No. 2 | Weiß, J., Meurer, J. E., Schmidt, L., Burger, A. M., Roßmann, J. | Aug 2026