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Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC)

This page details how researchers can gain online access to microdata. It includes information about the data and the services we offer at the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC), how your scientific institution can request accreditation for online access to microdata, and how an employee of your scientific institution submits requests for online access to microdata as part of a research project. If you are interested in the possibility of online access to microdata, carefully read the legal, organizational and technical requirements in our Frequently Asked Questions.

 

The currently available microdata sets for online access can be found in the AMDC Microdata Catalogue. The catalogue provides standardized descriptions of the meta data of each microdata set. The catalogue is a living document and is continuously extended with new datasets. For navigation, please refer to the search and filter functions of the microdata catalogue.Please note that we currently cannot offer English documentations for our available microdata sets.

AMDC Microdata Catalogue

A scientific institution can file a request a 5-year accreditation for online access to microdata at the AMDC. The application is filed via our online application form. Please carefully read the legal requirements for accreditation of scientific institutions on our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). We suggest that the application is to be filed from a person of your scientific institution who has detailed knowledge about legal and organizational properties of your scientific institution, as we may have requests and ask for clarifications.

 

Request an accreditation:

  1. Please check whether your scientific institution is already accredited for online access. You can find a list of all currently accredited scientific institutions under “Accredited Scientific Institutions”.
  2. Carefully assess whether your scientific institution fulfils all requirements to file the request for accreditation (see FAQs).
  3. Discuss the application within your scientific institution.
  4. The applicant of the scientific institution has to register an account.
  5. Login to our online application form and fill in the required information (e.g. name and type of the organization, legal form, contact …). 
  6. Statistics Austria is reviewing the application.
  7. Statistics Austria submits the decision on the accreditation request via e-mail to the applicant and the legal representative of the scientific institution within 4 weeks.

If your request for accreditation is granted the scientific institution will be listed as accredited scientific institution on our webpage. The accreditation period is five years.

If you are employed by an accredited scientific institution, you can file a request for online access to microdata for your research project. Before you submit your application, please carefully review the legal and technical conditions and read our practical suggestions in the FAQs. If you are not sure about the status of your scientific institution, please check the list of accredited scientific institutions before you submit the application for online access. While the request for accreditation is pending, you are still able to browse the list of available microdata sets at the AMDC.

Attention: Please make sure that the lead of the research project is filing for remote access.

Request online access:

  1. The lead of the research project has to register an account.
  2. Login to our online application form and fill in the required information.
  3. Statistics Austria reviews your application within a month.
  4. This possibly involves dialogue between members of Statistics Austria and the project lead (which could change details of the application form).
  5. If all requirements of the online application form are met, Statistics Austria submits an offer.
  6. After the offer is accepted and the contract is signed, Statistics Austria will start to prepare the requested data and the remote research environment.
  7. Just before the research project will start, Statistics Austria provides a short tutorial for the remote research environment (“onboarding”).
  8. Research with the requested data via the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is possible 24/7 within the specified timeframe (maximum of five years).
  9. The generated results have to pass an output control before they can be published.

An accreditation of a scientific organisation is valid for five years, if all data given within the request is still valid. Should some (relevant) aspects of the scientific organisation change or if the technical-organisational measures can not be met anymore, please contact the AMDC immediately.

Below is a list of all currently accredited scientific organisation with the AMDC. If you are employed by one of the named scientific organisation you are eligible to submit a request for online access to microdata.

Below you will find a list of all active and completed reserach projects at the AMDC (we update the list once a month)

Publications about the AMDC

  • Fuchs, R., Göllner, T., Hartmann, S. & Thomas, T. (2023). Fostering Excellent Research by the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC). Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik. https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2023-0043

 

Publications using data access via AMDC

The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies - Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche (wiiw):

AMDC project title: Demografie der österreichischen Außenwirtschaftsstruktur | Scientific lead: Dr. Robert Stehrer

Medical University of Graz - Medizinische Universität Graz (Med Uni Graz):

AMDC project title: Frailty predicts all-cause and cause-specific mortality among older adults in Austria: 8-year mortality follow-up of the Austrian Health Interview Survey 2014 | Scientific lead: Dr. Erwin Stolz

  • Stolz, E., Schultz, A., Schüssler, S. et al. (2024). Frailty predicts all-cause and cause-specific mortality among older adults in Austria: 8-year mortality follow-up of the Austrian Health Interview Survey (ATHIS 2014). BMC Geriatr 24, 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04633-3 

AMDC project title: Duration of late-life disability during the last five years of life: A register-based study | Scientific lead: Dr. Erwin Stolz

  • Stolz, E., Schultz, A., Zuschnegg, J., Großschädl, F., Dorner, T. E., Roller-Wirnsberger, R., & Freidl, W. (2024). Disability during the last ten years of life: evidence from a register-based study in Austria. European Journal of Ageing, 21(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-024-00823-z
  • Stolz, E., Oberndorfer, M., & Freidl, W. (2024). Education-related inequalities in disability during the last years of life: a full population register-based study. J Epidemiol Community Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2024-222669

AMDC project title:  Against All Odds: The Influence of Contextual Factors on Overcoming Inequalities of Educational Opportunities | Scientific lead: Mag. Dr. Mario Steiner

  • Binder, D. (2024). Why do parental education effects on wages differ by study fields? An analysis of bachelor- and master graduates in Austria. European Journal of Higher Education, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2024.2397972

The Service Catalogue which details our provided services and their reimbursement of costs will be updated at least once a year (usually at the end of the calendar year). Please note the validity period of the document. 

 

German: Katalog der Serviceleistungen

German: Technisch-organisatorische Maßnahmen (TOM) zur Gewährleistung und Einhaltung der Datensicherheit im AMDC
English: Technical and organisational measures (TOM) to ensure and maintain data security in the AMDC

The declaration of commitment at the AMDC is to be signed by all participating researchers and will be uploaded by the reserach lead during the application.

German: Verpflichtungserklärung der Forschenden im AMDC

German: Datenschutzinformation für die Registrierungs- und Antragsapplikationen des AMDC
German: Nutzungsbedingungen für die Registrierungs- und Antragsapplikationen des AMDC
German: Barrierefreiheitserklärung der AMDC Applikationen

German: Standardpaketliste für R und Python im AMDC

Deutsch: Vertragsmuster AMDC
English: Model contract AMDC

The guidelines for statistical disclosure control at the AMDC provide researchers with information on how to produce results that can be quickly checked by Statistics Austria. The aim of the legally regulated statistical disclosure control is to minimise the risk of indirect identification of statistical units and is a joint responsibility of researchers and Statistics Austria. The guidelines are to be understood as a living document that can change as experience is gained. All cases that cannot be processed under the current standard procedure will be processed in a customized track.

In publications on the results of research projects within the AMDC, the involvement of the ‘Austrian Micro Data Centre’ in data processing must be mentioned (see Article 31 (6) subsection 7 of the Federal Statistics Act 2000). The following suggestions can be used to cite the AMDC in publications:

 

German:

Dieses Forschungsprojekt wurde mit Daten des Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC) durchgeführt. Das AMDC ist eine Forschungsdateninfrastruktureinrichtung von Statistik Austria, die die Beforschung von datenschutzkonform aufbereiteten Mikrodaten ermöglicht (Fuchs et al. 2023).

English:

This research project was conducted with data from the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC). The AMDC is a research data infrastructure facility of Statistics Austria that enables research on micro data processed in compliance with data protection regulations (Fuchs et al. 2023).

 

We are continously aiming to improve the AMDC. To this end we have a weekly scheduled maintenance, where services can be interrupted or unavailable. If emergency maintenance is needed, we will try to contact you directly.

Weekly scheduled maintenance: Thursday from 06:30 to 09:30

General information Phone: +43 1 711 28-8970
amdc@statistik.gv.at Hotline hours on weekdays from 09:00 to 15:00
Last updated on 2025-02-04.