Transnational Access Visits (TAV) programme opened on 25th January

The first call for the COORDINATE Transnational Access Visits (TAV) programme opened on 25th January. The call was accompanied by two webinars, organised by WP11 and WP3 to meet the programme candidates, introduce what the hosting institutions and their surveys offer, respond to any questions from the participants, and ultimately help the participants make the most of the TAV programme.

The webinars started with an overview of the TAV programme goals and the application process. Orla Doyle and Catherine Jordan from the UCD School of Economics, the coordinators of the programme, summarized the eligibility and selection criteria, described what to expect before, during and after the visits, and offered some helpful tips.

Orla Doyle, coordinator of TAV, during her presentation

The core of the webinars were the host pitches where six of the programme partners presented their institutions and surveys, underlining the special features that will be available to TAV participants. In the first webinar, Seaneen Sloan (UCD School of Education) presented the highly ranked University College Dublin and the two nationally longitudinal studies, Children’s School Lives and Growing up in Ireland, nationally representative cohort studies that apart from wealthy quantitative data include qualitative data from special focus groups. Cassandra Simmons (ECSWPR Health & Care Unit) pitched the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy & Research in Vienna, Austria. European Centre will facilitate analysis of the wide-reaching SHARE survey (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) with SHARELIFE modules that offer a range of topics for further research. Robert Grimm (Ipsos Germany) introduced the German branch of Ipsos Public Affairs, a research company that stands out for their applied work in global setting, and the dataset of the EU Kids Online survey.

The host pitches of the second webinar that took place a week later started with an introduction of the University of Essex by Cara Booker (Institute for Social and Economic Research - ISER). Though ISER facilitates access to several datasets, the presentation focused on the rich data of the British Household Panel Survey and its successor, the Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study.

Jean-Louis Lanoë (INED) presented the French Institut National d’Études Démographiques and the national birth cohort study ELFE, where a 3-week stay is recommended due to the size and complexity of the available data. Marika de Bruijne concluded the presentations with an introduction of the Centerdata research institute and the data of the LISS (longitudinal Internet Studies for Social Sciences) panel. Centerdata will provide an introduction programme to the visitors and is looking forward to collaborating on research initiatives.

Among other, the pitches offered a glimpse of University of Essex...

… and the Centerdata premises.

Participants’ questions in the Q & A sessions referred mainly to eligibility for the programme.

The extensive information collected in the TAV Policy Document is the best source for any questions on applications. Video recording of the webinars and the presentations are available for anyone who was not able to join live.

Team is planning a third webinar before the next TAV call opens in July to give the floor to the Manchester Metropolitan University and the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, and perhaps hear back from the first TAV participants. Follow the project channels for more information!