In November 2020, the Research and Expertise Centre for Survey Methodology (RECSM-UPF), directed by Mariano Torcal, full professor of Political Science at UPF, obtained funding to join the European project COORDINATE (2021-2025), under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. One of the project’s main objectives is to expand the Growing Up in Digital Europe-EuroCohort (GUIDE) network of surveys, the first international study of birth cohorts (which also involves RECSM) and launch it, through a harmonized research design.

RECSM-UPF will bring its experience to ensure quality in the design of the questionnaires drafted under the GUIDE project

Now, some months later, GUIDE has been included in the roadmap 2021 of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), a milestone that indicates its role as one of the highest quality and highest value research infrastructures in Europe. GUIDE thus becomes one of the eleven new research infrastructures to join the ESFRI roadmap 2021 (selected after two years’ work and an exhaustive evaluation and selection process) to which a total of 4.1 million euros will be allocated.

With GUIDE, two RECSM-UPF projects have already joined the ESFRI roadmap

GUIDE is the second RECSM-UPF project to join the ESFRI roadmap: in 2006, it was the European Social Survey (ESS), joining the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) in 2013, and an ESFRI reference in 2018. Now, thanks to GUIDE, the research group at the UPF Department of Political and Social Sciences will bring its experience to ensure quality in the design of the questionnaires drafted under the GUIDE project.

Mariano Torcal: “Only this type of data can enable situating child welfare in our society comparatively, to find out what we do well and how we can improve”

Mariano Torcal, RECSM director, recognizes “the importance for Spain of its involvement in this initiative, from the moment you begin to ensure that the welfare of Spanish children can be assessed over time and in comparison with other countries. Only this type of data can enable situating child welfare in our society comparatively, to find out what we do well and how we can improve. These data will be useful not only for the public and scientists, but also for policymakers in order to address the needs of our society. We at the RECSM are pleased and honoured to contribute to this goal with our experience”.

Wiebke Weber: “Including GUIDE in the ESFRI roadmap 2021 implies that the importance it deserves is being given to research on child welfare in a longitudinal and comparative perspective”

Wiebke Weber, principal investigator of the ESS-ERIC and of the GUIDE project at RECSM-UPF, says that “including GUIDE in the ESFRI roadmap 2021 implies that the importance it deserves is being given to research on child welfare in a longitudinal and comparative perspective”. The researcher adds that “at RECSM, we aim to contribute to the success of the project with our expertise in survey research, but also by bringing together relevant actors in Spain to obtain the best results and promote excellent science”.

GUIDE, a key pan-European research infrastructure for obtaining data on child welfare

Growing Up in Digital-Europe-EuroCohort (GUIDE) is a pan-European research infrastructure which will provide policymakers with comparable transnational information on the evolution of child welfare, from birth to the age of 24 years. GUIDE will include an accelerated longitudinal design of two cohorts (newborns and children aged 8 years) about every three years.

The GUIDE survey is expected to start mid-2020 and run until early 2050. This landmark longitudinal study will produce harmonized data between partner countries, allowing rigorous comparisons between them regarding environmental and social causal factors, key to improving child welfare.

GUIDE will include an accelerated longitudinal design of two cohorts (newborns and children aged 8 years) about every three years

GUIDE is coordinated jointly by research teams from University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) in the UK. This project has received political and institutional support from twenty countries that form part of the ESFRI application, and expects to expand the consortium to new countries in the next four years, among which is Spain, which intends to participate in the pilot study being prepared.

ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure) is a self-regulated organization, emerging in 2002 following a mandate from the European Council, whose mission is to create a coherent and strategic approach to policymaking on research infrastructures and science integration in Europe. ESFRI supports the development of select, high quality, pan-European research infrastructures via its roadmap: this planning tool provides an indicator of high level excellence and orientation in research that can serve as a reference for national roadmaps throughout Europe.