March 25, 2026 | News | Kick off

University of Malawi and MPIDR Launch Exciting New Research Cooperation

UNIMAX Research Group held a kickoff meeting in Malawi

In September 2025, Ben Malinga John became the head of the Max Planck Partner Group UNIMAX at the University of Malawi (UNIMA) in Zomba. Previously, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in the Laboratory of Fertility and Well-Being. In February, he and his colleagues from Department of Sociology and Population at the University of Malawi hosted a kickoff workshop for the new Partner Group "UNIMAX: New Perspectives On The Demography Of The Family In Sub-Saharan Africa". The event, convened in Blantyre, focused on "Advancing New Perspectives and Methodologies in Population, Health, and Family Research in Sub-Saharan Africa".

Saroja Adhikari, Megan Evans, Philipp Dierker, Maurice Monjerezi, Ben Malinga John, Mikko Myrskylä, Prof. Emmanuel Ngwira, Susi Lee, Jesman Chintsanya, Emmanuel Souza and Alyson van Raalte. © Lawrencia Bwighane Kapina

The workshop aimed to advance innovative methods for using administrative data in population, health, and family research. “It was exciting to learn more about the administrative data available in Malawi. I was surprised by the volume of data that could be used for innovative demographic research. It became clear that administrative data in Malawi needs greater visibility to be utilized fully for research purposes,” explained Ben Malinga John. At the workshop, researchers exchanged knowledge and experiences regarding ethical access to and use of administrative data for research purposes. Among other topics, they presented Malawi’s administrative data infrastructure and discussed its potential uses.

The protocol for the Malawi University Graduate Internet Panel (MUGIP) was presented and reviewed by experts. MUGIP is the first large-scale panel study in Sub-Saharan Africa focused on university graduates. The study will collect longitudinal data on university graduates to examine family formation, reproductive intentions and knowledge, labor market transitions, and socioeconomic outcomes. In doing so, the new data will fill gaps in existing data on Africa where highly-educated individuals are often underrepresented. According to Susie Lee, a research scientist at the MPIDR collaborating with the UNIMAX group, “it is critical to develop the questionnaire reflective of the context of Malawi, as well as comparable to other data sources from low-fertility contexts, so that the new MUGIP data enriches understandings of the demographic transition in both low- and high-fertility contexts, contributing to more nuanced and context-sensitive theories as well as family and population policies.”

The event successfully promoted collaboration between the MPIDR and UNIMA leadership, as well as networking among researchers. "For the University of Malawi, collaborating with the MPIDR enhances our research capabilities, strengthens the supervision and mentoring of early-career researchers, and integrates our researchers into global scientific networks," said Prof. Emmanuel Ngwira, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“Collaboration within the UNIMAX partner group and with scientists at the University of Malawi is very exciting for the MPIDR. Malawi exhibits high fertility rates while experiencing the increase in life expectancy. This provides a dynamic demographic context for family formation processes and population health. With the UNIMAX partner group, the MPIDR will contribute to collaborative research essential for anticipating future demographic shifts and informing proactive family and population policies in Africa,” says Mikko Myrskylä, director of the MPIDR.

The MPIDR and UNIMA will continue to collaborate closely to finalize the MUGIP protocol and launch the study in early 2027. Furthermore, they will intensify collaboration between MPIDR and UNIMA researchers at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels through exchange programs, such as ARTEMIS and Bridging Minds. For further information contact Susie Lee (lee@demogr.mpg.de) or Ben Malinga John (bjohn@unima.ac.mw).

The event brought together national and international policymakers and researchers from institutions such as the National Planning Commission, the National Statistics Office, the National Civil Registry, the Reserve Bank of Malawi, Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UC Louvain, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, the University of Malawi, the Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit, the Global Health Informatics Institute, the United Nations Population Fund, the African Institute for Development Policy, and the African Population and Health Research Center and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. 

© Lawrencia Bwighane Kapina

© Lawrencia Bwighane Kapina

© Lawrencia Bwighane Kapina