LIVES Centre

What LIVES Centre does

LIVES Centre (legal name: Centre LIVES) is a Swiss academic research center founded in 2011 and headquartered in Lausanne, with a second site at the CIGEV in Carouge (Geneva). It operates as a National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR LIVES) under the Swiss National Science Foundation, hosted jointly by the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), with research collaborators at the Universities of Fribourg and Zurich. Its mission is to study vulnerability and resilience across the life course, covering topics such as family, work, unemployment, health, migration, aging, social inequalities, and stress through interdisciplinary projects co-directed by professors from the partner universities.

The center's outputs are research artifacts rather than commercial products. Its product surface comprises the LIVES Centre website (primary digital platform for projects, publications, and members), the LIVES Doctoral Programme (a structured training cohort, with a 2026-27 outline published), the Kalendaro workshop (a pedagogical program for Romandy secondary school students on life course inequalities), and the LIVES Human Library podcast series (16 researcher stories in French and English on major podcast platforms). Distribution occurs through academic publications, working groups, conferences, the LIVES International Conference, the LIVES Colloquium, the \u00abLIVES Comes Alive\u00bb seminar series, public exhibitions, newsletters, and a press review.

LIVES Centre is a publicly funded non-commercial entity. Its revenue is sourced from the Swiss National Science Foundation through the NCCR mechanism, supplemented by host university contributions from UNIL and UNIGE; no products or services are sold. Its customer base is institutional (federal funder, two host universities, an international research consortium) rather than commercial. Leadership transitioned at end-2022 when founding director Dario Spini handed over to co-director Cl\u00e9mentine Rossier, supported by an executive coordinator and scientific officer (Laure Sandoz), communications, IT/data, and administrative staff.

Name

LIVES Centre

Legal name

Centre LIVES

Website

https://centre-lives.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

LIVES Centre is a Swiss publicly funded academic research center studying vulnerability and resilience across the life course, hosted jointly by the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva under a Swiss National Science Foundation NCCR grant.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Swiss National Science Foundation Funding (NCCR): National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, with host institutions University of Lausanne and University of Geneva

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

LIVES Centre is the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research, conducting interdisciplinary research on vulnerability and resilience across the lifespan. Hosted by the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, it co-directs research projects with the Universities of Fribourg and Zurich, runs a doctoral training programme, and disseminates findings through publications, conferences, podcasts, and school workshops. The center is funded as a National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Product overview

LIVES Centre is a Swiss academic research center focused on life course studies, operating as a consortium between the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva. The organization's digital presence consists primarily of an informational website that provides access to its research activities, publications, and educational offerings. The main products and services include the LIVES Centre Website (the primary platform for information dissemination), the Kalendaro Workshop (a pedagogical workshop for secondary school students), the LIVES Human Library Podcast Series (stories about vulnerability and life courses), and the LIVES Doctoral Programme (structured training for PhD researchers).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered primary and international.

• University of Lausanne (UNIL)primaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution of Centre LIVES, providing academic infrastructure and research support
• University of Geneva (UNIGE)primaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution of Centre LIVES, providing academic infrastructure and research support through CIGEV
• Centre on Aging and the Life Course, University of PurdueinternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the International Consortium on Life Course Research
• Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques (INED), ParisinternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the International Consortium on Life Course Research
• Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), Galway, IrelandinternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the International Consortium on Life Course Research
• International Centre for Lifecourse Studies, University College LondoninternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the International Consortium on Life Course Research
• Jacobs Centre for Productive Youth Development, UniZhinternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the International Consortium on Life Course Research
• Life Course Center, University of MinnesotainternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIA Center for Economics and Demography of Aging, part of International Consortium
• Millennium Nucleus for the Study of Life-course and Vulnerability, Santiago de ChileinternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the International Consortium on Life Course Research
• Research Centre on Inequality and Social Policy (SOCIUM and BIGGS), University of BremeninternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the International Consortium on Life Course Research

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), University of Galway: Named member of LIVES' International Consortium. Irish academic institute conducting life course research across health, society, and policy dimensions, with comparable interdisciplinary structure and consortium-based operating model.
• Millennium Nucleus for the Study of Life-course and Vulnerability: Santiago de Chile-based research nucleus named in LIVES' International Consortium. Studies life course and vulnerability from a Latin American perspective, with direct thematic overlap and a parallel nationally-funded research structure.
• International Centre for Lifecourse Studies, University College London: UCL-hosted life course research center explicitly named as part of LIVES' International Consortium. Conducts similarly interdisciplinary longitudinal and life course studies in the UK, making it the most direct peer institutionally and thematically.
• Life Course Center, University of Minnesota: NIA-funded Center for Economics and Demography of Aging and named member of LIVES' International Consortium. Conducts life course research with a comparable aging-and-inequality focus, with a substantially larger US funding base.
• Centre on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University: Named member of LIVES' International Consortium. US-based academic research center on aging across the life course, with overlapping methodology and an explicit consortium relationship that signals peer-equivalence.
• Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED): French national institute for demographic studies and named member of LIVES' International Consortium. Conducts life course demographic and social science research with national-scale resources, making it a thematic and methodological peer.
• SOCIUM / BIGGS, University of Bremen: Research Centre on Inequality and Social Policy at the University of Bremen, named member of LIVES' International Consortium. Studies social inequality and policy across the life course, overlapping thematically with LIVES' inequality-focused agenda.
• Jacobs Centre for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich: Named member of LIVES' International Consortium and a Swiss-based research center. Focuses on youth development across the life course, providing direct topical and geographic overlap with LIVES' activities.

Broad incumbents

• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF): The federal funding body that operates the NCCR programme under which LIVES is funded. As the umbrella funder for all Swiss NCCRs, SNSF is the structural incumbent shaping LIVES' funding cycle, scale, and reporting requirements.

Regional players

• Swiss Academy of Social Sciences (SAGW / ASSH): Swiss umbrella organization for social science research that aggregates and represents the Swiss social science community. Relevant as a regional peer ecosystem actor through which LIVES interfaces with national social science policy and funding.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Centre_LIVES

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 LIVES Centre