For researchers and doctoral students
Through REWHARD, researchers and doctoral students can access well-documented data, analyses and statistical syntax files, as well as advice on research data. Researchers are also welcome to participate in our seminars on the use of Swedish databases for research.
Photo: Christina@wocintechchat.com, Unsplash
High-quality research data
The infrastructure is a resource for researchers across the country, and our data can be used to study how people's living conditions develop over time and factors influencing well-being and health. We coordinate research data on, among other things, socio-demographics, family situation, working conditions, health behaviours, illness and sickness absence for the Swedish population. High-quality data is available with a long-time perspective and for a total of more than 14 million people.
The infrastructure consists of four longitudinal databases managed within the nodes LNU, SLOSH, IMAS and STODS. Each node is responsible for its own database and regularly collect new data via surveys and by ordering register data. Through the nodes, we offer access to quality-controlled pseudonymised micro data, assistance with analyses and online data visualisation. As a researcher, you can also get advice and support on the use of data resources and relevant analytic methods. Below is a summary of the four nodes.
The Swedish Level of Living Survey (LNU)
LNU is a recurring survey in which a sample of Sweden's adult population is interviewed or fills out questionnaires about their concrete living conditions. It is one of the oldest ongoing panel surveys in the world.
The Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)
SLOSH is an internationally leading panel study that elucidates how various aspects of people's working lives, private lives and health interact over time. Research based on SLOSH contribute to increased knowledge that may serve as an important basis for efforts to improve public health.
Insurance Medicine All Sweden (IMAS)
IMAS is an interdisciplinary research project based on longitudinal register data of more than 14 million people. The aim of the project is to generate knowledge about various aspects of sickness absence and disability pension.
Swedish Twin project of Disability pension and Sickness absence (STODS)
The STODS project follows a large twin cohort over a long period of time with regard to sickness absence and disability pension. The project provides unique opportunities to investigate the importance of hereditary factors for differences in sickness absence.
Information on publishing
When publishing original scientific articles with data from REWHARD, authors should include the following under "Acknowledgements" (or equivalent heading):
In English: "This work utilised data from the REWHARD consortium supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR #2021-00154)."
In Swedish: "I detta arbete användes data från REWHARD-konsortiet, som stöds av Vetenskapsrådet (dnr 2021-00154)."
Please note that there could be other requirements in addition to the above, for instance specified in your user agreement.
Seminars and conferences
We organise seminars and conferences on the use of Swedish databases for research, for example on methodological issues relating to register and survey data, longitudinal studies and managing non-response.
Open Forum
A few times per semester, we invite researchers and PhD students to our Open Forum on Zoom. Then our researchers are available for your questions. Meet us and find out about the data we have and how you can use it in your research.
Read more and register for Open Forum
This page also contains a list of questions and answers from previous forums.
The user conference RewhardNet
Since 2024, we organise annual conferences for existing and new users of the infrastructure. The next user conference is planned to be held in Stockholm on 7–8 September 2026.
Seminars
Since 2022, we have held seminars for researchers at universities across Sweden about the use of our data in research.
REWHARD organised a workshop on non-response in surveys with several international speakers in September 2022. A follow-up seminar was held in collaboration with the NEAR infrastructure in November 2025.
Advice
REWHARD offers personalised advice on planning studies and on ordering and handling data from Swedish authorities and included cohort studies.
IMAS and STODS offer advice and assistance with:
- what data are needed for a specific research question
- study design
- ethics application
- quality control of delivered data
- data cleaning & data management
- management of sickness absence data
- syntaxes
- methodological questions.
If you are interested in getting advice, please contact imas-cns@ki.se (IMAS) or stods-cns@ki.se (STODS).
LNU and SLOSH also offer advice and support regarding the use of their data resources and on relevant study methodology.
Syntax library
Below you can find statistical syntaxes for handling data for research purposes. This section is under construction.
Last updated: 2026-03-06
Source: REWHARD