Institute for Social Research

What Institute for Social Research does

The Institute for Social Research (Institutt for samfunnsforskning, ISF) is an independent Norwegian social science research institute founded in 1950 and headquartered at Munthes gate 31, Oslo. It conducts studies across ten thematic areas including elections and democracy, labour and welfare, gender equality, migration and integration, civil society, media and the public sphere, technology and society, climate and environment, societal security and preparedness, and education. ISF operates three dedicated research centres — CORE (Centre for Gender Equality Research), the Centre for Research on Civil Society and Voluntary Sector, and Valgforskning.no — and houses the Norwegian National Election Studies, a longitudinal research program running since the 1950s, as well as Integreringsbarometeret, Norway's largest recurring survey on immigration, integration, and diversity.

The institute's core products are scholarly outputs: three peer-reviewed journals (Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning, recognized as Norway's leading social science journal; Søkelys på arbeidslivet on working life; and the international yearbook Comparative Social Research), plus ISF Reports, ISF Notes, and infographic publications distributed through the Norwegian research information system (NVA) and the institute's website. Methodology is built on traditional social science approaches — surveys, statistical analysis, qualitative methods, longitudinal studies, and field experiments — rather than proprietary technology platforms. The organization has no commercial API, SDK, or software products, and no disclosed AI/ML proprietary capabilities.

The business model is grant-funded professional services: base and project funding flows from the Norwegian Research Council (Forskningsrådet), EU Horizon Europe grants (notably the TRADE-OFFS project), direct government ministry contracts, and academic partnerships — primarily with the University of Oslo. Customer segments are Norwegian government ministries and agencies (primary), academic institutions (secondary), and the general public and media (tertiary). ISF operates as a nonprofit organization with 75 listed staff and no equity, commercial revenue, or pricing structure.

Name

Institute for Social Research

Legal name

Institutt for samfunnsforskning

Website

https://samfunnsforskning.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

1950

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Institute for Social Research (Institutt for samfunnsforskning) is an independent Norwegian social science research institute founded in 1950 in Oslo, conducting studies across elections, welfare, equality, migration, and civil society for government ministries, academic institutions, and the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Science Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Policy, Research & Advocacy Organizations (Nonprofit) (BPAGADAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK), Higher Education Governance & Quality Policy Research (EDADADAI)

Keywords

• Social science research
• Policy research services
• Election studies
• Academic journal publishing
• Gender equality research

Headquarters

HQ city

Oslo

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research funding: As a Norwegian research institute, funding comes from government research councils (Forskningsrådet), EU Horizon projects (e.g., TRADE-OFFS project), and base funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Institute for Social Research is a Norwegian social science research institute that conducts independent academic research on equality, democracy, welfare, and politics. It disseminates findings through three peer-reviewed academic journals, a report series, research notes, infographic publications, and operates three specialized research centres covering gender equality, civil society, and election studies. The institute sells research services to government agencies and academic institutions, funded primarily through research grants from bodies such as the Norwegian Research Council and EU Horizon Europe.

Product overview

The Institute for Social Research (Institutt for samfunnsforskning, ISF) is a Norwegian social research institute that conducts and publishes independent research across multiple social science disciplines. The organization operates as a unified research institution offering scholarly journals (Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning, Søkelys på arbeidslivet, Comparative Social Research), report series, infographic publications, and manages two specialized research centres (CORE for gender equality and the Centre for civil society research). The portfolio is structured around the institute's core research activities, with publications serving as the primary dissemination channels for its research findings on Norwegian and international societal issues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CORE – Senter for likestillingsforskning: Centre for Research on Gender Equality
• Senter for forskning på sivilsamfunn og frivillig sektor
• Valgforskning.no

Products and services

• Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS)

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• EU Horizon Europe (TRADE-OFFS project)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026Europakommisjonen announced TRADE-OFFS project funding through Horizon Europe, led by researcher Liza Reisel at ISF.
• CORE – Centre for Research on Gender EqualitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCORE is a dedicated centre within the Institute for Social Research focusing on gender equality research, led by Mari Teigen.
• Centre for Research on Civil Society and Voluntary SectorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSenter for forskning på sivilsamfunn og frivillig sektor is a centre at the institute focused on civil society research, led by Bernard Enjolras.
• Valgforskning.no (Election Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDedicated election research centre that conducts the Norwegian National Election Studies.
• University of Oslo (UiO)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerISF uses UiO's weblogin authentication system (weblogin2.uio.no) and many staff hold positions at UiO.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Fafo: Fafo is a Norwegian independent research institute focused on labour, welfare, migration, and inequality research, with a similar nonprofit funding model and similar policy advisory role for Norwegian ministries. Directly comparable in size, mission, and customer base.
• NOVA — Norwegian Social Research (OsloMet): NOVA is a Norwegian social research institute at OsloMet working on welfare, ageing, childhood, and integration — overlapping directly with several of ISF's research areas and serving the same government and academic customers.
• Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI): CMI is a Bergen-based Norwegian independent development research institute conducting social science research on governance, human rights, and development, with a similar grant-funded research model and academic publishing output.
• NIBR — Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (OsloMet): NIBR is a Norwegian social science institute focused on urban, regional, and welfare research, directly overlapping with ISF's velferd og utdanning (welfare) and medier og offentlighet themes, and competing for the same municipal and national policy contracts.
• VIVE — The Danish Center for Social Science Research: VIVE is Denmark's leading independent social research institute covering welfare, labour market, public administration, and civil society — a Nordic sister institute that competes and collaborates with ISF on cross-Nordic policy research.
• SOFI — Swedish Institute for Social Research (Stockholm University): SOFI is Sweden's leading academic institute for social science research on inequality, welfare, and labour markets. It is the closest Nordic counterpart to ISF in research scope and academic standing.
• NIFU — Nordic Institute for Studies of Innovation, Research and Education: NIFU is a Norwegian research institute studying innovation, research policy, and education, sharing ISF's nonprofit policy-research model and overlapping on education and welfare research topics.

Broad incumbents

• Statistics Norway (SSB): Statistics Norway is the central government statistics bureau, much larger than ISF, that conducts related demographic, labour, and social surveys and serves overlapping Norwegian government customers. It is a broader, established incumbent in the same data and policy space.
• University of Oslo — Faculty of Social Sciences: The University of Oslo's Faculty of Social Sciences conducts large-scale social science research and already provides authentication and academic collaboration infrastructure to ISF, making it a much larger incumbent operating in the same research areas.
• SINTEF: SINTEF is one of Europe's largest independent research institutes with a much broader applied science portfolio, but it competes with ISF for Norwegian Research Council and EU project funding and overlaps on welfare, technology, and society research.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/samfunnsforskning
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/samfunnsforskning
• Xx.com/isfnytt

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Institute for Social Research