August 04, 2005 | News

Extending the frontiers of research on mortality and longevity - Joint Summer School of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and the IUSSP took place in Rostock

The "International Union for the Scientific Study of Population" (IUSSP) and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research held a Joint Summer School on "Frontiers of Demographic Research on Mortality and Longevity" from July 25 to August 2, 2005, organized by Professor Graziella Caselli (Universitá di Roma "La Sapienza").

Internationally renowned demographers presented recent trends and methods in mortality research. Topics were

• "The Biodemography of Mortality and Longevity" (James Carey),
• "Demographic Analysis of Centenarians" (Graziella Caselli),
• "Economic Consequences of Mortality Decline" (Ronald Lee),
• "Aging in Developing Countries" (Alberto Palloni),
• "Disability and Longevity. Computing Health Expectancy Using Japan as an Example" (Yasuhito Saito),
• "Comparative Mortality Analysis: Making Use of Available Data" (Vladimir Shkolnikov, Jacques Vallin),
• "Models of Disability and Mortality" (Anatoli Yashin) and
• "New Methods to Study Healthy Longevity and Elderly Living Arrangements" (Zeng Yi).

Morning lectures were followed by a break for computer exercises, local group discussions and readings. After the break the participants convened again for an evening lecture and general discussion.

The participants came from all over the world to Rostock, e.g. from Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Nigeria, Norway, the Philippines and the U.S.