CIMES - Switzerland

Access to microdata for scientific purposes 

in European countries

Access to microdata for scientific purposes in Switzerland

flag of switzerland

Contact

Name of the microdata access service

Swiss Federal Statistical Office – FSO

Postal address

Espace de l’Europe 10
2010 Neuchâtel (Switzerland)

Contact

Email: info@bfs.admin.ch
Contact form: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/dienstleistungen/kontakt/kontaktformular-statistische-auskunft.html 

Website

https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home.html

Access conditions

General conditions

Scientific/Secure Use Files can be supplied for research purposes only. A data protection contract has to be signed.

Conditions for non-resident researchers

Non-resident researchers must additionally demonstrate security measures planned for data protection.

Conditions for students

Same as for national researchers. The student’s supervisor (Professor) also signs the data protection contract with FSO. Students are entitled to discounts. (For students registered in a foreign university, it is recommended that the supervisor acts as principal investigator).

Legal framework

Federal Statistics Act of 9 October 1992, n. 431.01.

How much does it cost?

Pricing scheme varies between studies; rebates are available for projects financed by the Swiss government or the Swiss national research foundation.

How long does it take to obtain data?

Between one week for well documented requests to three months if SFSO needs additional information.

Information on access

Additional information on the FSO website: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/dienstleistungen/forschung.html 

Other

Federal Statistics Act: http://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19920252/index.html 

Types of microdata available for Switzerland

Public Use Files (PUF)

FSO considers data released through its Internet site as public use files.

Scientific Use Files (SUF)

A data protection contract has to be signed. Additional information on the FSO website: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/dienstleistungen/forschung.html 

Secure Use Files (SecUF)

A data protection contract has to be signed. Additional information on the FSO website: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/dienstleistungen/forschung.html 

Access to microdata by type of person

 

Public Use Files

Scientific Use Files

Secure Use Files

Public

Yes

No

No

Students

Yes

Yes

Yes

PhD students

Yes

Yes

Yes

Researchers

Yes

Yes

Yes

Foreign researchers

Yes

Yes

Yes

Modes of access by microdata type

 

Public Use Files

Scientific Use Files

Secure Use Files

Online access

Yes

No

No

For download

Yes

Yes (contract)

Yes (contract)

Onsite access

No

No

No

Remote access

No

No

No

Remote execution

No

No

No

 

Microdatasets available for Switzerland

Other access points in Europe

Disclaimer

The pages above provide information on microdata disseminated at the national level by the statistical institutes in the European countries and on microdata disseminated by Eurostat.  The pages describe the data and the procedures for requesting access as well as the available types of microdata files (Public Use Files, Scientific Use Files, and Secure Use Files).

This information was initially collected by CASD/GENES for the CIMES database developed for Data without Boundaries project (funded by the 7th Framework Programme, the EU's research funding programme between 2007 and 2013). CIMES stands for Centralising and Integrating Metadata from European Statistics. Various organisations (ADP, CED, CNRS-Réseau Quetelet, FORS, GESIS, RODA, ONS, and UL) contributed to the creation of CIMES by collecting and structuring the metadata for the period of the Data without Boundaries project (2011-2015). In 2021, Eurostat moved the CIMES database to the CROS platform to facilitate updates of countries' information. Eurostat would like to thank all CIMES developers, especially CASD, for sharing the CIMES database and for all efficient collaboration.