Recommended Reading | June 20, 2025

How can we Link NBA Basketball, Physics, and Demography?

Can we predict Steph Curry’s next move on the court?
Last year, Boris Barron started at MPIDR as a research scientist in the Migration and Mobility Department. He is a physicist and specializes in modeling complex systems. While at Cornell University, he and his colleagues developed a methodology to analyze detailed positional information of basketball players in NBA games. Their approach adapted a physics-based approach, Density Functional Fluctuation Theory (DFFT), to provide a general framework to infer subtle aspects of the game.  More

June

24

Scientific Presentations

LabTalks@­SocialDemography

Mary Roberts from the Laboratory of Population Health gives a talk.  More

All Events

New Issue 1/2025 available | April 02, 2025

The Quarterly German Newsletter

Introduction to our research groups

BIOSFER

New Publication | June 11, 2025

Couples with Opposing Political Views Face Higher Risk of Separation

A recent study by researchers at the University of Padua and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) has revealed that political differences between partners can significantly increase the risk of separation. Using long-term data from UK couples, the researchers found that those with different party preferences were substantially more likely to separate than those with the same political beliefs. The risk is particularly high when there are differences of opinion on Brexit.  More

Selected Publications

Colasurdo, A.; Omenti, R.:

Using online genealogical data for demographic research: an empirical examination of the FamiLinx database   Demographic Research 51:41, 1299–1350. (2024)

Shi, J.; Aburto, J. M.; Martikainen, P.; Tarkiainen, L.; van Raalte, A. A.:

A distributional approach to measuring lifespan stratification    Population Studies 77:1, 15–33. (2023)

More Publications

Questions and Answers

Being a Researcher at the MPIDR

Working at MPIDR

Life & Research in Rostock

Press Release | April 02, 2025

Low Fertility and Economic Sustainability

June 02, 2025

Rethink Fertility and Gender Inequality in a Changing World

Recap of the “Gender Inequalities, Fertility, and the Future of Family Demography: Intersectionality in an Era of Family Complexity” conference in Rostock: In March 2025, researchers from six continents gathered at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) for the “Gender Inequalities, Fertility, and the Future of Family Demography: Intersectionality in an Era of Family Complexity” conference in Rostock. The scholars came together to debate and advance the understanding of fertility, gender inequality, social stratification, and the growing complexity of family life.  More

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.