Competence and Service Centre for Interoperability (CSCI)
Short description
The Competence and Service Centre for Interoperability (CSCI) is part of the European research infrastructure Monitoring Electoral Democracy (MEDem). CSCI’s mission is to develop an analytical standard that enables comparability and linkage across different types of data – such as textual, survey, and contextual data – over time and between countries.
Strengthening European electoral research
The project focuses on achieving scientific interoperability. This means not only describing data through metadata, but also making it usable for comparative research and theory development.
The point of departure is the needs of researchers: to combine variables and indicators in meaningful ways to address substantive research questions across time and countries.
To enable this, CSCI develops principles, models, and tools that make it possible to integrate conceptually equivalent indicators—even when question wording, scales, or research designs differ. By defining standards for analytical comparability, CSCI serves as a link between the research community and the technical infrastructure within MEDem.
CSCI also builds capacity for data linking and harmonisation that supports both empirical analysis and theoretical development, thereby contributing to the advancement of comparative electoral research in Europe.
CSCI is recruiting interns for Fall 2026
Are you interested in public opinion and survey research? Do you have basic knowledge of quantitative research methods and an interest in survey or text data? Are you comfortable using, or willing to learn, new software? Are you able to work independently and take initiative?
If so, you are welcome to apply for an internship with us.
The internship runs for 20 weeks and is open to Master’s students in political science, European studies, or other social science programmes.
Project members
Research Director: Stefan Dahlberg
Stefan Dahlberg is Professor of Political Science at Mid Sweden University and Research Director of CSCI. His research focuses on representative democracy, democratic legitimacy, political parties, and voting behaviour from a comparative perspective. He has, among other things, studied gender differences in support for anti-immigration parties.
Read more: Stefan Dahlberg | Mittuniversitetet miun.se
Database Supervisor and Team Leader: Melina Liethmann
To be updated.
Read more: Melina Liethmann | University of Gothenburg
Database Supervisor Maximilian Hornung
To be updated.
Read more: Maximilian Hornung | Göteborgs universitet
Associate Researcher: Dennis Andersson
Dennis Andersson is a Research Assistant in the project. He is also a PhD candidate at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMG), where his research focuses on the relationship between ideology, news consumption, and societal perceptions. He also has an interest in methodological issues, political behaviour, and the link between politics and voters.
Read more: Dennis Andersson | University of Gothenburg
