December 18, 2025 | News | Season´s Greetings 2025

An Eventful Year 2025

© iStockphoto.com / Jenny Sturm

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) has had an eventful and successful year. Throughout the year, we welcomed international guests to our workshops and conferences.
 

March:
Rostock Open Science Workshop 2025
Conference: Gender Inequalities, Fertility, and the Future of Family Demography'. Intersectionality in an Era of Family Complexity
BIOSFER Synergy Camp in Lillehammer, Norway
Juni:
BIOSFER Synergy Camp in Ringberg, Germany
July:
Symposium: Demographic and Health Consequences of Violence, Armed Conflict, Climate Change, Environmental Hazards and Population Dynamics
September:
BIOSFER Conference: “Fertility, Childlessness, and Reproductive Aging: Bio-social Perspectives” at the Villa Vigoni, Menaggio, Italy
November:
MaxHel Meeting at the University of Helsinki, Finnland
Climate Change, Environmental Hazards and Population Dynamics Workshop
December:
IMPRS-PHDS Annual Academy 2025

In addition to welcoming many visiting scientists to the MPIDR, the Laboratory Digital and Computational Demography welcomed twelve young scientists to the fourth Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program. In September, the MPIDR welcomed the new cohort of the European Doctoral School of Demography (EDSD) and celebrated the international doctoral school's 20th anniversary. Also in September, the International Max Planck Research School for Population, Health and Data Science held a training course for its supervisors.

The MPIDR team undertook numerous research trips and presented their research at events including the PAA conference in Washington, D.C., USA; PopDays in Cagliari, Italy; and IPC in Brisbane, Australia. They also presented at regional events such as the Science Night in Rostock and at the participatory radio station Lohro in Rostock.

There was also plenty of good career-related news at the MPIDR in 2025: In September, Marília Nepomuceno and Ugofilippo Basellini each received an ERC Starting Grant of €1.5 million for their research on longevity. Marcus Ebeling and Susie Lee were delighted to have their applications for a Max Planck Research Group accepted. Also in September, Ben Malinga John, a former MPIDR researcher, became head of a Max Planck Partner Group (UNIMAX) at the University of Malawi in Zomba. On 1 October, Aliakbar Akbaritabar took up his new position as a junior professor of computational social science at the University of Rostock. Mikko Myrskylä and other researchers received €6 million to conduct research on population projections for migration scenarios, human capital development and sustainable integration (MigScene).

Looking ahead, 2026 promises to be another fast-paced year. The MPIDR will celebrate its 30th anniversary. In the first half of the year, Marcus Ebeling and Susie Lee will start working with their research groups on topics Medical Demography (Ebeling) and Reproductive Ageing (Lee). Further workshops are being planned. The first call for the Kinship Structures, Dynamics, and Inequalities conference, which will be held at the MPIDR in June, has already been issued. The deadline for applications for the Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program 2026 is 14 January 2026. The Scholarly Migration Database will also be expanded.

We would like to wish all MPIDR staff, research partners and supporters a peaceful holiday season and a happy New Year in 2026. We look forward to welcoming new and familiar faces to the MPIDR and to conferences such as the PAA and EPC in 2026.