June 06, 2026 | News | Award

Mikko Myrskylä Receives 2026 Dirk J. Van de Kaa Award for Outstanding Contributions to Demography

Mikko Myrskylä, director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), received the 2026 Dirk J. Van de Kaa Award for Population Studies at the European Population Conference 2026 (EPC2026) closing ceremony in Bologna. Presented by the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS), the award honors outstanding scientific achievements in population studies.

Mikko Myrskylä (left) has received the 2026 Dirk J. Van de Kaa Award for Outstanding Contributions to Demography.

The Dirk J. Van de Kaa Award for Population Studies recognizes Mikko Myrskylä’s outstanding contributions to demography and its interdisciplinary advancement. He has led the MPIDR in Rostock since 2015 and has quickly become a leading figure in international population research. With a first doctoral degree in statistics from the University of Helsinki in 2007 and a second in demography from the University of Pennsylvania as a Fulbright scholar in 2009, he established an interdisciplinary research practice early on. By 2013, at the age of 35, he had become a full professor of demography at the London School of Economics (LSE).

Myrskylä is also the chair of the Scientific Council of the Max Planck Society, a professor at the University of Helsinki, and the director of the Max Planck – University of Helsinki Center for Social Inequalities in Population Health. The nomination letter for the award states: 'His research is characterized by remarkable breadth and innovative strength. He has produced groundbreaking work on fertility, mortality and the social determinants of health. He is a pioneering researcher who advances the field of demography through innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration and a strong focus on the most pressing social issues. It is hard to imagine a scientist in the middle of their career leaving such a profound mark on demography.”

Myrskylä is also the chair of the Scientific Council of the Max Planck Society, a professor at the University of Helsinki, and the director of the Max Planck – University of Helsinki Center for Social Inequalities in Population Health.

Using innovative methodological approaches, Mikko Myrskylä demonstrated that delaying childbirth, long considered problematic, brings significant health benefits for children.

He was an early pioneer in establishing causal research designs and Bayesian approaches in fertility forecasting, which are now used by international institutions such as the United Nations.

Using counterfactual analyses, he demonstrated that poor U.S. mortality trends are primarily due to cardiovascular diseases, not drug overdoses as is often assumed.

“I am very humbled by this honor and receiving this award is particularly touching given that we have learned that Dirk van de Kaa, giant thought leader and institution builder, has sadly just passed away. To me the award is not about any individual achievement but celebration of European social demography. I feel privileged that I can be part of this community and contribute to the advancement of the field”, says Mikko Myrskylä.

The Dirk J. Van de Kaa Award is named after the eminent Dutch demographer Dirk J. van de Kaa, who contributed significantly to the development of the theory of the Second Demographic Transition and served as the first president of the EAPS. The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) sponsors the award. Dirk J. Van de Kaa headed the institute as its founding director in 1970.