In 2024, the LIVES Centre awarded seed money funding to two teams. The aim of this funding is to obtain funds from another donor for the preparation of new projects on the life course and vulnerability. The two winning projects are the following:
Factors of Mortality in Old Age in Switzerland (FaMOS-VLV)
Researchers: Matthias Kliegel (UniGe), Andreas Ihle (UniGe), Rainer Gabriel (ZHAW)
This research investigates the determinants of mortality in the aging population of Switzerland, utilizing a comprehensive longitudinal dataset derived from linking the LIVES Vivre-Leben-Vivere (VLV) gerontological survey (Ludwig et al., 2014) with the Swiss National Cohort (SNC) (Bopp et al., 2009). The investigation centers on two principal research questions. The first scrutinizes the relationship between mortality and cognitive performance in aging. The second aims to examine the social gradients in mortality, which refers to the association between individuals' socio-economic position (SEP) and their lifespan development, as well as causes of death. The current funding aims to facilitate the publication of two research papers demonstrating the importance of considering (cognitive) reserve(s) for the study of individual differences in mortality in old age and will lay the groundwork for a prospective project targeting international data sets and multi-domain reserves.
Swiss Time Use Survey - Proposal for a Pilot Study
Researchers: Dr. Caroline Roberts (LIVES, SSP, UNIL), Prof. Daniel Oesch (LIVES, SSP, UNIL), Dr. Marieke Voorpostel (FORS, Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences, UNIL)
This proposal for LIVES Seed Money is intended to supplement LIVES Seed Money obtained in 2023 for a scoping study assessing the demand for and feasibility of conducting a Swiss Time Use Survey (TUS) for the social sciences. To extend the work already undertaken/planned as part of the scoping study, we intend to conduct a comprehensive pilot survey in Spring 2024. The main objectives of the pilot study will be to: 1) Investigate and evaluate technical and legal/ethical issues associated with hosting a Swiss TUS on the Belgian MOTUS platform (Modular Online Time-Use Survey - https://www.motusresearch.io/); 2) Test the effectiveness of the MOTUS platform as a way to conduct a general population TUS in Switzerland, with a focus on willingness to participate and especially, willingness to complete the diary component via an app (focusing on response rates and correlates of participation); 3) Test alternative response enhancement methods to motivate participation. The pilot is designed to assess feasibility aspects of conducting a TUS in Switzerland, the results of which will be used to inform the design of the main survey and provide evidence to support the proposal by (hopefully) demonstrating the viability of the planned methods and the budget requirements associated with them.
Congratulations to these two research teams! We wish both of them every success with their project.
The LIVES Centre offers three types of grants to support innovation in life course research: the "Seed money", the "Young scholar grant" and the "Visitor grant". These funds are addressed to the members of the LIVES Centre as well as to the extended network of researchers studying the life course and vulnerability.