idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
In its statement published on July 27, 2026, the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat) supports the implementation of the “Research Infrastructure for Data from Large Online Platforms” (RIDLOP) at GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. RIDLOP is set to become the first research infrastructure in Germany and Europe to archive data from large online platforms and make them accessible to researchers under secure conditions.
GESIS is among the world’s leading research infrastructure institutes for the social sciences. With RIDLOP, the institute placed the only project from the humanities and social sciences on the shortlist of large research infrastructures to be prioritized, published by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) in July 2025.
RIDLOP will bring together three types of online platform data: datasets collected by researchers, data donations from platform users, and data provided by online platforms themselves. It will make these data accessible for scientific use. The result is a quality-assured data portfolio that meaningfully extends the services of GESIS. For decades, GESIS has archived social science research data in its data archive according to internationally recognized standards.
Combining data, infrastructure, and expertise
In its statement, the Science and Humanities Council highlights RIDLOP as a landmark project for social science research. The combination of high-quality, curated data and the technical infrastructure to share these data enables novel research on highly relevant topics. According to the Science and Humanities Council, RIDLOP can shape research with online platform data by setting standards for metadata, curation, and data quality.
The Science and Humanities Council further emphasizes RIDLOP’s pioneering role under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). RIDLOP is expected to be one of the first initiatives in Europe to put the DSA’s new data access rights for researchers into practice. In doing so, RIDLOP can significantly strengthen Germany as a center of research and serve as a blueprint for international initiatives. By generating relevant knowledge for decision-makers, RIDLOP can also contribute to Europe’s digital sovereignty.
In addition, the statement contains valuable guidance and recommendations for implementing the project successfully.
“We are delighted that the Wissenschaftsrat recognizes the importance of RIDLOP for research, policy, and society in Germany and Europe, and that it considers GESIS the ideal institution to build this infrastructure. The positive evaluation would not have been possible without the commitment of many people within and beyond the institute. We now eagerly await the ministry’s decision,” says Prof. Dr. Christof Wolf, President of GESIS.
“Reliable data and secure data infrastructures are among our core competencies. We have built extensive expertise through decades of survey research and data archiving, complemented by our more recent work with digital behavioral data. We will bring this expertise directly into RIDLOP and extend it to online platform data,” says Prof. Dr. Beatrice Rammstedt, Vice President of GESIS.
New evidence on the influence of online platforms on digital society
Prof. Dr. Katrin Weller and Prof. Dr. Sebastian Stier, who are the project leaders of RIDLOP, emphasize the importance of the new research infrastructure. “Social media, search engines, online marketplaces, and AI chatbots shape key areas of our everyday lives. At the same time, researchers often lack the data they need to study this everyday use rigorously,” says Weller. Stier adds: “RIDLOP provides researchers with the data foundation they need to answer societally relevant questions about the role of online platforms. Our goal is to enable the generation of the scientific evidence required to shape our digital environments.”
The prioritization process for large research infrastructures
In 2024, the BMFTR initiated a prioritization process for large research infrastructures and asked the Science and Humanities Council to carry out a science-driven assessment of the submitted concepts. The overall assessment covered scientific potential, utilization prospects, the potential for innovation and transfer, and costs and risks, among other criteria. In July 2025, the ministry placed nine projects on the shortlist of the prioritization process, including RIDLOP as the only project from the social sciences. Since then, the Science and Humanities Council has been evaluating the shortlisted projects individually to ensure the best possible implementation. For RIDLOP, the site visit at GESIS took place on April 20 and 21, 2026. Based on this assessment, the BMFTR will decide on funding for the project.
Contact person at GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
Dr. Sophie Zervos
Pressesprecherin
sophie.zervos@gesis.org
Telefon: +49(0)221 / 47694 – 136
Unter Sachsenhausen 6-8
D-50667 Köln
As one of the world’s leading infrastructure institutions for the social sciences, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences—provides researchers with expertise and services at every stage of their research projects, enabling them to address socially relevant questions using the latest scientific methods, high-quality data, and research information. To ensure this service both today and in the future, GESIS combines its integrated survey and data infrastructure with methods, models, and algorithms from computer science as applied to the social sciences and is continuously expanding its portfolio of services in the field of digital behavioral data. GESIS is a member of the Leibniz Association, the lead partner of KonsortSWD within the NFDI, and maintains institutional and project-based collaborations with numerous universities and research institutions in Germany and abroad. GESIS participates in major European projects such as the European Social Survey (ESS), the European Value Study (EVS), the European archive network CESSDA, and the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
Prof. Dr. Katrin Weller | Head of Department, Data Services for the Social Sciences | katrin.weller@gesis.org
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Stier | Head of Department, Computational Social Science | sebastian.stier@gesis.org
https://ridlop.gesis.org/ Homepage of RIDLOP
https://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/download/2026/3385-26.pdf Published statement by the Science and Humanities Council
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