The headquarters of European democracy research are to be based at the University of Vienna. The European research infrastructure MEDem (Monitoring Electoral Democracy) has been included in the ESFRI Roadmap 2026. This decision by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) marks an important milestone for European democracy research. MEDem is supported by 15 European countries.
“Democracy needs knowledge, facts and independent research. Particularly at a time when democratic institutions are coming under pressure worldwide, reliable data and academic findings are more important than ever. The inclusion of MEDem in the ESFRI Roadmap is therefore a strong signal for democracy research in Europe and a major success for Austria as a centre of research. I would like to congratulate the entire European consortium, and in particular the team at the University of Vienna, on this important milestone,” says Eva-Maria Holzleitner, Federal Minister of Women, Science and Research.
“MEDem enables a data-driven analysis of the current state of democratic societies and identifies possible courses of action to safeguard their future. The inclusion of MEDem in the ESFRI Roadmap 2026 sends a strong signal for democracy in Europe and is, at the same time, a special honour for Austria and the University of Vienna as the lead institution. This success is the result of years of groundwork and the strategic expansion of international partnerships. Sustainable university funding is the necessary prerequisite for bringing such major European projects to Austria,” said Rector Schütze.
MEDem makes data on democratic developments in Europe searchable, comparable and linkable, ranging from developments with regard to voters and political parties, on to parliaments and governments, to journalism and political communication. For this purpose, the research infrastructure is developing common standards, interfaces and digital tools for the findability, connection, harmonisation, analysis and visualisation of social science data. This enables researchers to investigate developments across countries, time periods and data sources and to provide a reliable basis for understanding democratic societies and for evidence-based political decision-making.
The Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research (BMFWF) has officially submitted the application for the inclusion of MEDem in the ESFRI Roadmap and is actively supporting the initiative. MEDem will in future be one of Europe’s most strategically important research infrastructures.
“The fact that Austria now hosts a second research infrastructure on the ESFRI Roadmap, alongside the Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure Austria (BBMRI), underlines the high quality and international visibility of Austria as a research hub,” emphasises Holzleitner.
MEDem is a shared research infrastructure with sites at the University of Vienna, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the University of Gothenburg, the University of Silesia in Katowice, LUISS University in Rome and the University of Florence as well as at GESIS in Germany and FORS in Switzerland. The headquarters are based at the University of Vienna and are headed by Sylvia Kritzinger and Hajo Boomgaarden.
MEDem is currently supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Slovakia and Switzerland.
