The CIVICA alliance is proud to announce the selection of eight innovative collaborative research projects across partner institutions following its fourth call for proposals. This achievement highlights CIVICA’s enduring commitment to interdisciplinary research and collaborative efforts across European social sciences universities.
The selected projects address a diverse range of critical contemporary issues, aiming to generate impactful solutions through rigorous academic inquiry. While all types of collaborative research projects were eligible, the selection committee particularly encouraged links to one of the four CIVICA thematic priorities, including economics, business studies, and political economy approaches. The CIVICA teams involved in the selection process sought projects that crossed thematic boundaries and prioritised innovative research ideas. These projects will benefit from CIVICA’s collaborative environment, leveraging the expertise and resources of partner institutions. Officially starting this June 30, the projects will run until May 2026.
Since its inception, CIVICA has involved approximately 272 researchers from its ten partner institutions, forming 36 dynamic research teams. This latest call continues to foster excellence and cooperation, contributing significantly to the development of innovative research initiatives.
This announcement marks another significant milestone in CIVICA’s journey, reflecting the alliance’s unwavering dedication to promoting research excellence and academic cooperation. As these projects progress, they are expected to contribute valuable insights and advancements to their respective fields, reinforcing CIVICA’s position as a leading hub for social sciences research in Europe.
List of selected projects
European Polarisation Observatory (EPO)
Project description
The European Polarisation Observatory (EPO) has evolved into a robust network within CIVICA, pioneering innovative methods to estimate political positions from social media data. Its second phase (2022-2023) solidified collaborations across platform regulation, social psychology, and political communication, yielding numerous publications and a Horizon 2024 proposal on democracy.
In its third phase (2024-2026), EPO aims to advance fundamental science in political data generation, foster interdisciplinary research across CIVICA, and integrate new partners (Hertie, SNSPA, LSE). This expansion positions EPO as a leading European entity in online political research, crucial amid evolving social media regulations and data ecosystems.
Scientifically, EPO addresses core questions in “data-driven technologies for social sciences,” exploring multidimensional political opinion estimation from social media with high temporal granularity. This approach promises to revolutionise social science research, offering insights into polarisation, algorithmic biases, and democratic participation.
Institutions involved
- Bocconi
- CEU
- Hertie School
- Sciences Po
- SNSPA
- LSE
Brown to Green: The Political Economy of Risks, Voting, and Compensation Policies (B2G)
Project description
The project examines the political economy of the green transition, focusing on its distributional implications, public support for green policies, and compensation policies that can enable decarbonization. By addressing socio-economic and political challenges, it aims to provide insights into how this transition affects labour markets, voting behaviour, and policy design across Europe.
Organised into three work packages, the team will first estimate the distribution of “green” and “brown” jobs across EU countries, examining sectoral and regional variations. Second, the project investigates green voting across Europe, exploring the relationship between occupational profiles and voting behaviour, as well as voters’ perceptions and the effectiveness of party messages on climate policies. The final work package will survey public opinion on land use changes to identify policies that can mitigate local resistance to decarbonization.
The project aims to produce at least four peer-reviewed articles and inform policymakers, enhancing the understanding of the green transition’s impact on employment, economic prospects, and political dynamics. Additionally, it will improve collaboration between CIVICA partners and support data collection and public opinion surveys for future EU funding proposals.
Institutions involved
- Bocconi university
- CEU
- LSE
Combating Housing Discrimination Against Roma People in Hungary (EqualHome)
Project description
The proposed project seeks to improve our understanding of how to combat housing discrimination against a highly marginalised group, Roma people, in a context where democracy is under threat: Hungary. A survey experiment with landlords and a field experiment on Budapest’s largest online housing platform, will be carried out to test the effectiveness of different communication strategies for reducing discriminatory behaviour. The project is expected to identify the most effective strategy, and then implement it at scale in collaboration with the municipality of Budapest.
This research project is part of Democracy in the 21st Century thematic priority.
Institutions involved
- CEU
- Hertie School
- LSE
Revisiting the effects of European (vs. national) identities on attitudes towards the Euro (EUR_Ident)
Project description
Nearly 25 years since the Euro’s creation, several EU countries have yet to adopt it, and many within the Eurozone remain unconvinced of its benefits. Public debate often emphasises economic aspects, neglecting social factors like collective identities. Previous studies suggested European identity positively influences Euro attitudes, but these were limited to Western Europe and lacked behavioural insights.
This research will explore the effects of European identity on Euro attitudes, considering mediators like self-congruence with Euro users and economic beliefs. It will also account for variables such as ethnocentrism, conservatism, national and global identities, and sociodemographics. Using samples from Sweden, Poland, and Spain—countries with different Euro adoption statuses—we will conduct experiments manipulating European identity activation to provide causal evidence of psychological mechanisms affecting Euro attitudes. This project will establish new collaboration between three CIVICA universities and aims to involve more CIVICA partners, expanding data collection across Europe.The findings could offer actionable communication tools to support European integration, leveraging CIVICA’s extensive network and resources.
This project falls under the thematic priority Europe Revisited.
Institutions involved
- IE University
- SGH Warsaw School of Economics
- Stockholm School of Economics
Evaluation use in public policy (EVALUSE)
Project description
This project investigates the nuanced dynamics of evidence use in policy-making, particularly how evaluation outcomes are integrated into the decision-making process—a facet that is still insufficiently addressed despite its critical importance
EVALUSE specifically explores the conditions that foster effective utilisation of evaluations within the policy framework, emphasising the diverse expertise of stakeholders involved. Central to the inquiry are the actors who commission evaluations, the nature of the questions posed, the types of empirical evidence that are prioritised, and the design of evaluations to yield results that not only
inform but also engage and foresee the needs of policy-making. This approach aims to bridge the persisting gap between evaluation insights and their practical application in public policy. Building upon the foundational work of the CIVICA joint course “Policy Evaluation: Praxis and Politics” this project seeks to develop actionable materials and collaborative research outputs that
enhance the understanding and implementation of evidence use in policy evaluation. Additionally, it aims to expand the established network of experts, fostering deeper collaboration to address pressing policy questions effectively. This project aspires to contribute substantially to the discourse on policy evaluation, enhancing its relevance and impact in shaping responsive, evidence-based policy frameworks.
This project falls under the thematic priority Democracy in the 21st Century.
Institutions involved
- CEU
- EUI
- Sciences Po
Using Machine Learning to Uncover Subjective Incentives in Executive Compensation (EXECML)
Project description
Executive compensation has been intensely scrutinised in corporate governance research, often focusing on objective incentives like salary and bonuses while overlooking subjective incentives due to a lack of reliable data. This project addresses this gap by extracting subjective incentives from firms’ financial disclosures, which reflect strategic priorities, cultural values, and governance practices. Using advanced techniques in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the project will construct quantifiable compensation measures from these textual features.
The research will investigate trade-offs between objective and subjective incentives, evaluating their alignment with corporate strategies. This approach aims to enhance models relying on quantitative data, offering valuable insights to academic researchers, compensation committees, investors, and other stakeholders.
The project will produce academic and practitioner-oriented articles and host a workshop on NLP, ML, and AI applications in corporate governance, disseminating findings to both practitioners and scholars.
This project falls under the Data Driven Technologies for Social Sciences thematic priority.
Institutions involved
- Bocconi university
- IE University
- Stockholm School of Economics
Lobbying and political outcomes in EU Institutions P.R.O.L.E. - Political Results Obtained through Lobbying in Europe
Project description
The EU is committed to improving its climate agenda, balancing public benefits with private efforts, and preventing vested interests from shaping political decisions. Conducted by scholars at the EUI, Bocconi University, and the Hertie School, this project aims to increase awareness of vested interests in EU climate-related policies. The team will construct a dataset of lobbying activities and political outcomes in European Institutions, covering EU member states and major European Institutions, namely the Council, Parliament, and Commission. Data will be sourced from Integrity Watch EU, the EU Transparency Register, and VoteWach EU, using pseudonymisation techniques to respect privacy.
The integrated dataset will provide empirical evidence on lobbying influence through synthetic indicators, benefiting from cross-disciplinary exchange among CIVICA partners. The analyses will inform the design, implementation, and reform of European interventions and political economy dynamics. The project addresses two research questions: the evolution of lobbying activities in the EU and their influence on environmental-related political outcomes. Planned activities include data collection and integration, networking seminars, analysis of lobbying effectiveness, and outreach through a database codebook and a working paper. The project will result in an integrated dataset for future analyses and new knowledge on vested interests and climate-related political outcomes.
This project falls under the thematic priorities Democracy in the 21st Century and Societies in transition, crises of Earth.
Institutions involved
- Bocconi university
- EUI
- Hertie School
Refugee Entrepreneurship in the EU: Sparking Grass-roots Innovation, Civic Empowerment and Transnational Connectivity (RE-EMERGE)
Project description
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a significant influx of refugees to the EU, with over 4.2 million non-EU citizens under temporary protection as of March 2024. Managing these inflows for the benefit of both host and home societies is crucial for the EU, particularly in supporting Ukraine’s recovery. The project explores refugee entrepreneurship as a means of integrating refugees into host countries while maintaining ties to home countries and empowering economic and civic agency.
The project will aim to answer the following: Under what conditions does refugee entrepreneurship lead to grassroots economic innovation, civic empowerment, and increased transnational connectivity? The analysis will focus on micro-level individual factors, meso-level influences of local networks and NGOs, and macro-level politico-economic contexts of host countries. By examining these factors,the project will provide insights on the innovative, civic, and transnational potentials of refugee entrepreneurship.
Leveraging the expertise of CIVICA partners and integrating Ukrainian partners, the project will conduct data collection, explorative research, and proof-of-concept analyses. The support from CIVICA will enhance publication records, external partnerships, and prepare a consortium proposal for EU funding, contributing to the “CIVICA for Ukraine” initiative.
Institutions involved
- CEU
- SGH Warsaw School of Economics
- Stockholm School of Economics
