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The POPJUS Program continues and builds upon research activities previously undertaken in the IIASA World Population and Risk and Resilience programs. Insights into current and future population sizes, structures, and distributions are fundamental to understanding human impacts on ecosystems and simultaneously, the impact of environmental changes on human wellbeing differentiated by sub-populations.
The program’s research agenda embraces the key priority in the IIASA strategic plan by identifying sustainable development challenges and exploring people-centric systems solutions for sustainable, resilient, just and equitable societies. The program focuses on strengthening the human-centered and population-based approach, taking into consideration equity and the just distribution of opportunities, outcomes, and processes. In doing so, the program builds on existing strengths and expertise in population and human capital modeling as well as expertise in understanding, managing, and equitably governing systemic and existential risks associated with global change. The program will continue to invest in advancing its methods, approaches, and data to deliver results that can be incorporated into system analytical models, inclusive policy processes, and ultimately into equitable and effective policy pathways and transformations.
POPJUS Research Groups
Equity and Justice (EQU)
The EQU Group focuses on the human dimension of selected globally relevant policy challenges, with the aim of delineating and advancing their analysis, management, and governance with special attention paid to the design and application of equity and justice frameworks, both within the group and across IIASA.
Migration and Sustainable Development (MIG)
MIG focuses on applying advanced data collection and estimation methods to quantify and better understand the trends, patterns, drivers, and consequences of different types of migration considering its interactions with the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
Multidimensional Demographic Modeling (MDM)
Through its research, the MDM Group aims to advance demographic modeling methods to assess and forecast population dynamics with a focus on demographic and spatial heterogeneity under different socioeconomic scenarios at the global, national, and sub-national level.
Young Scientists Summer Program
The Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) at IIASA offers an exceptional opportunity for PhD students to engage in collaborative research with IIASA's interdisciplinary teams.
YSSP opportunities in POPJUS More information on applying to the YSSP
Wittgenstein Centre
POPJUS is one of the three pillars of The Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, a collaboration among the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the University of Vienna.
Read POPNET Newsletter WIC Report of Activities 2018–2022
Models, tools, datasets
Social and Policy Simulations
Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Data & Graphic Explorer Version 3.0 (WCDE)
Population and Human Capital Projections (SSP 2023)
The World Aging Data Explorer (WADE)
Projects
Systems approach to EU wildfire risk management project (FIRELOGUE)
Climate Change and Human (Im)Mobility: The Role of Compound and Cascading Risks (2C-RISK)
Link4Skills (Link4Skills)
Cognitive health in aging society – The role of context for cognitive functioning and related policy implications in Europe (CHIAS)
Staff
Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi
Senior Research Scholar (MDM); Guest Senior Research Scholar (H2A, MIG)
Anna Scolobig
Guest Senior Research Scholar (EQU)
Duncan Gordon-Forbes
Guest Research Assistant (MDM)
Jonas Peisker
Research Scholar (MIG, EQU)
News
10 June 2026
Annual global migration has nearly tripled since 2000
Global migration has risen sharply from approximately 13 million people per year in 2000 to around 35 million people per year in 2023. This is according to a new dataset on human migration published in Nature by researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), IIASA, and the University of Hong Kong.
09 June 2026
Life after work: Why social connections matter
Social networks may help protect cognitive functioning in later life, particularly among older adults who are no longer working, according to a new IIASA-led study. Drawing on data from 27 European countries, the researchers found that social connections can help compensate for the loss of mentally stimulating interactions linked to work, with different types of relationships benefiting women and men.
02 June 2026
Climate-driven drought linked to rising violence among adolescents in Southern Africa
New research from IIASA and the University of Oxford provides the first quantitative evidence that drought exposure over the last 12 months is associated with increased risk of sexual, emotional, and physical violence among adolescents in Southern Africa. This risk rises substantially during cumulative droughts over two years.
Events
Focus
Annual Report 2025: Population and Just Societies Program Highlights
How can societies adapt to profound demographic, environmental, and social change while ensuring that no one is left behind? In 2025, the Population and Just Societies Program generated new evidence on aging, migration, labor markets, climate vulnerability, and the policies needed to build more inclusive and resilient societies.
22 December 2025
Building resilience to floods and heatwaves for maternal and child healthcare
What happens to essential maternal and child healthcare when floods or extreme heat make it harder for families to reach clinics and for health workers to deliver services? IIASA Health, Aging, and Health Systems Research Group Leader, Josephine Borghi, shares perspectives from the REACH project, which is exploring emerging risks and promising strategies to build more climate-resilient health systems.
Publications
Eker, S. , Reiter, C. , Liu, Q., Kuhn, M., & Lutz, W. (2026). Wellbeing cost of carbon. Global Sustainability 9 e1. 10.1017/sus.2025.10042.
Liu, K., Wang, R., Tukker, A., K.C., S., & Hoekstra, R. (2026). Projecting temperature-related mortality impacts at urban scale under climate scenarios: A methodological review. Sustainable Cities and Society 145 e107476. 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107476.
Arnhold, T., Weber, D. , & Bordone, V. (2026). Employment Status and Later Life Cognitive Functioning: A Gendered Perspective on the Moderating Role of the Social Network. Research on Aging 10.1177/01640275261456210. (In Press)
Eltigani, B., Hoffmann, R., & Cluver, L. (2026). Drought exposure and the risk of sexual, emotional, and physical violence against adolescents in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Lesotho: an observational study. The Lancet Planetary Health 10 (4) e101448. 10.1016/j.lanplh.2026.101448.
Peisker, J. , Hoffmann, R., & Muttarak, R. (2026). Climate news mediates extreme weather effects on climate change concern. Climate Risk Management 52 e100806. 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100806.