Members 8th appointment period (July 2023 – July 2026)
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) is an independent council of empirical researchers from universities, university-level institutions, institutions of independent scientific research as well as representatives from important data producers in Germany. It consists of twenty members.

Members of the German Data Forum at its 67th meeting on September 7 and 8, 2023.
Representatives of empirical social, behavioural and economic research in the RatSWD
- Prof. Dr. Thorsten Faas
Professor of Political Science with a focus on Political Sociology of Germany, Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Free University of Berlin - Johannes Hartig
Head of Unit and Professor of Educational Measurement, Department of Teaching and Learning Quality in Educational Institutions, DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education / Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt
- Prof. Dr. Corinna Kleinert
Professor of Sociology with a focus on longitudinal educational research, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Otto Friedrich University Bamberg,
Deputy Director at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LifBi) and Head of the Department “Educational Decisions and Processes, Migration, Returns to Education” - Prof. Dr. Hubert Knoblauch
Professor of General Sociology, Institute of Sociology, Faculty VI – Planning Building Environment, Technical University Berlin - Prof. Dr. Poldi Kuhl
Professor of Educational Psychology, Centre for Empirical Research on Language and Education (ERLE), Institute of Psychology, Leuphana University Lüneburg - Prof. Dr. Ingrid Miethe
Professor of General Educational Science, Institute of Educational Science, Justus Liebig University Gießen - Prof. Dr. Fridtjof Nussbeck
Professor of Methods for Intensive Data in Psychology (midpsy), Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz - Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schneider – Chair –
Chair of Public Finance and Taxation, Department of Economics, University of Wuppertal
Managing Director of WIB – Wuppertal Research Institute for the Economics of Education - Prof. Dr. Laura Seelkopf
Professor of International Comparative Public Policy, Geschwister-Scholl-Institute for Political Science, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich - Prof. Dr. Joachim Winter
Professor of Empirical Economics, Faculty of Economics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Representatives of data production in the RatSWD
- Stefan Bender
German Bundesbank
Head of the Research Data and Service Centre of the Deutsche Bundesbank - David Broneske
German Centre for Higher Education and Science Research (DZHW)
Head of the Department “Infrastructure and Methods” - Dr. Christin Czaplicki
German Pension Insurance Association
Research and Development Division of Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund - Dr. Jan Goebel
Socio-Economic Panel SOEP at DIW Berlin
Head of Data-Operation and Research Data Centre at the SOEP Infrastructure Facility - Prof. Dr. Betina Hollstein
FDZ Qualiservice
Professor of Qualitative Methods and Micro-Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, University of Bremen
Head of the Methods Research Department at the SOCIUM Research Centre Inequality and Social Policy - Dr. Anke Rigbers
Statistical Offices of the Länder
President of the State Statistical Office Baden-Württemberg - Patrick Schmich
Robert Koch Institute (RKI)
Head of the Department “Epidemiological Data and Survey Centre” - Prof. Dr. Mark Trappmann
Federal Employment Agency
Professor of Sociology, esp. Survey Methodology, Otto Friedrich University Bamberg
Head of the “Labour Market and Social Security” Panel (PASS), Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency - Dr. Daniel Vorgrimler – Chair –
Federal Statistical Office
Head of Division B Strategy and Planning, International Relations, Research and Communication - Dr. Heike Wirth
GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
Department of Continuous Monitoring of Society, Head of the German Microdata Lab (GML)
Guests of the German Data Forum
- Dr. Daniel Fuß
Chair of the FDI Committee
Research Data Center of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (RDC-LIfBi) - Dana Müller
Chair of the FDI Committee
Research Data Centre (FDZ) of the German Federal Employment Agency (BA) at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) - Dr. Eckard Kämper
German Research Foundation (DFG), Programme Director Humanities and Social Sciences Group 2: Social and Behavioural Sciences - Prof. Dr. Stefan Liebig
Institute of Sociology at the Free University of Berlin - Dr. Katharina Pijnenburg
Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), Social Sciences and Humanities Division - Dr. Bertram Raum
Expert for data protection law - Prof. Dr. Ulrike Rockmann
Expert for official statistics and administrative data
Members who have left the RatSWD
- Prof. Dr. Monika Jungbauer-Gans
Chair of the RatSWD until November 2024, member until April 2025
German Centre for Higher Education and Science Research (DZHW) – Scientific Director
Professor of Empirical Research on Higher Education and Science, Leibniz Universität Hannover - Sabine Ohsmann
Member until February 2024
German Pension Insurance Association
Research and Development Division of Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund