The CZ–CH CORISS (Strengthening Czech–Swiss Cooperation for Sustainable and Innovative Research Infrastructures in the Social Sciences) project was accepted in 2025 and officially started in January 2026. Running until the end of 2028, CORISS deepens long-standing collaboration between the Czech Social Science Data Archive (CSDA) and the Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS), with a strong emphasis on advancing data archive services in close alignment with CESSDA ERIC priorities.

A central part of the project is dedicated to archive-focused work packages (WP4–WP6), which address shared challenges faced by social science data archives across Europe: improving data management services, enhancing data discoverability, enabling secure access to sensitive data, and strengthening data citation practices.

“CSDA and FORS have known each other and cooperated within CESSDA for many years, but CZ-CH CORISS finally gives us the space to work together much more intensively on trusted data services and FAIR data management. We see this as an important step both for our institutions and for the wider European research infrastructure community," says Yana Leontiyeva, Principal Investigator of CZ-CH CORISS, and Head of CSDA.

WP4 focuses on strengthening data management services and data findability at CSDA through structured knowledge exchange with FORS. Building on FORS’s well-established workflows, the partners are formalising and expanding CSDA’s data management services across the full research data lifecycle, including support for sensitive and non-standard data. A key output is the development and testing of a user-oriented data discovery tool that improves cross-language findability and aligns with practices used across CESSDA service providers. Comparative analysis and engagement with the wider CESSDA community ensure that solutions are informed by, and contribute back to, collective expertise.

WP5 addresses one of the most pressing issues for many archives: secure access to sensitive data. CSDA and FORS are jointly developing and piloting Trusted Research Environment (TRE) solutions that combine technical, legal, and organisational safeguards. The work draws directly on experience from the CESSDA Sensitive Data Working Group, with both partners actively contributing lessons learned, workflows, and documentation to support broader uptake across the consortium.

WP6 targets the persistent challenge of data citation. In close collaboration with FORS—previous leader of the CESSDA Data Citation Working Group—CSDA is aligning its infrastructure, policies, and services with CESSDA recommendations. Outreach to researchers, librarians, journals, and funders aims to embed consistent citation practices nationally while producing guidance materials and evidence that are relevant well beyond the Czech context.

Across all archive-related work packages, CESSDA plays a crucial role: as a methodological reference point, a platform for knowledge exchange, and a pathway for scaling national innovations to the European level. CORISS contributes concrete tools, documented workflows, and tested practices that strengthen not only CSDA, but also the collective capacity, interoperability, and sustainability of CESSDA as a whole.
Through close Czech–Swiss cooperation, CORISS demonstrates how bilateral projects can deliver tangible, reusable value for the broader CESSDA community—supporting archives as they adapt to evolving data types, user expectations, and open science requirements.