Learning from the past

Looking into the past in order to gain a better understanding of the present and the future: this is the research approach of the Laboratory of Historical Demography. The researchers of the laboratory are engaged in a variety of analytical endeavors, investigating, for example, how family structures have changed over the centuries, how people have lived together in the past and in the present, as well as the causes of rising life expectancy. The data the laboratory works with are often not readily available in digital form, and must instead be gathered with painstaking care from centuries-old registers and dusty archives. Using innovative information technology and computational techniques, the scholars of the laboratory not only pursue their own research interests, but also seek to advance the collection and sharing of population history data across the globe.Detailed description