Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

PHD | August 06, 2026

Congratulations, Athina Anastasiadou!

Athina Anastasiadou from the Laboratory of Migration and Mobility at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), successfully defended her doctoral thesis, “The Second Migrant: The role of gender in demographic theories, methods, and data for migration research“, at University of Groningen. The thesis was awarded “cum laude”. In the Netherlands, this is a rare distinction that is awarded in roughly 5% of the cases.  More

Press Release | August 05, 2026

Fewer Heart Attacks, More Cancer Cases, and Better Survival Chances

Heart attacks, strokes, and hip fractures are becoming less common. Meanwhile, cancer cases are increasing, and more people are surviving these severe diseases. A new study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) and the Karolinska Institute examines how medical progress has impacted various diseases in Sweden.  More

Publication | July 30, 2026

Individual-Level Mortality Predictions: Statistical Models vs. Machine Learning

Researchers investigated whether traditional statistical and machine learning models could achieve a similarly high level of accuracy in predicting individual-level lifespan. Overall, the results show that machine learning does not significantly improve mortality predictions compared to conventional methods.  More