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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)
Demographic scenarios for the EU
Projects
Systems approach to EU wildfire risk management project (FIRELOGUE)
Sustainability Performances, Evidence and Scenarios (SPES)
Cognitive health in aging society – The role of context for cognitive functioning and related policy implications in Europe (CHIAS)
Policy REcommendations to Maximise the beneficial Impact of Unexplored Mobilities in and beyond the European Union (PREMIUM_EU)
Staff
Denise Watzenig
Program and Project Officer (POPJUS, EQU)
Michaela Potancokova
Senior Research Scholar (MDM)
Landis MacKellar
Guest Emeritus Research Scholar (SHAW)
Dalkhat Ediev
Guest Senior Research Scholar (SHAW)
News
18 December 2024
Celebrating a year of impact: IIASA highlights in 2024
IIASA proudly looks back on another successful year. Our year-end video showcases some of the milestones that have shaped IIASA's growth and impact in the global scientific community.
17 December 2024
IIASA and JRC to improve demographic projections
Earlier this month, IIASA and the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) signed a collaboration agreement to build knowledge in the field of demography. The aim is to address gaps in the labor market and vulnerability to climate change, and ensure that IIASA research is directly communicated to EU policymakers.
05 December 2024
Four distinguished scholars receive the IIASA Lifetime Achievement Award
This year, the award is granted to four researchers: Markus Amann, Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer, Sten Nilsson, and Sergei Scherbov, whose pioneering work has not only guided the global political discourse in the fields of demography, climate change, and the environment but also shaped IIASA as the international hub for systems analysis.
Events
Focus
16 January 2025
Strengthening transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production at IIASA
Transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production are transforming the way IIASA addresses complex societal challenges. Susanne Hanger-Kopp reports on behalf of the participants of an IIASA-wide workshop that highlighted the potential of and hurdles to these approaches.
11 November 2024
Why are people waiting longer to start a family? Exploring the trends, challenges, and choices behind delayed parenthood
Ahead of the Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2024 on Delayed Reproduction: Challenges and Prospects, which is set to take place from 21-22 November, researchers from the IIASA Population and Just Societies Program, the Vienna Institute of Demography, and the University of Vienna look into the shifting trends, drivers, and consequences of delayed parenthood.
Publications
Sterly, H., Borderon, M., Sakdapolrak, P., Adger, N., Ayanlade, A., Bah, A., Blocher, J., Blondin, S., Boly, S., Brochier, T., Brüning, L., Bunchuay-Peth, S., O’Byrne, D., Safra De Campos, R., Nii Ardey Codjoe, S., Debève, F., Detges, A., Franco-Gavonel, M., Hathaway, C., Funke, N., Gemenne, F., Gubert, F., Gurmu, E., Keeton, R., Ketsomboon, B., Leroy, M., Majidi, N., Marchisio, S., Abu, M., Naruchaikusol, S., Negozio, F., Nicolle, H., Nucera, G., Olsson, L., Owuor, J., Ozer, P., Piguet, E., Reckien, D., Redicker, S., Andreolla Serraglio, D., Sultan, B., Tänzler, D., Vigil, S., Vinke, K., Zantout, K., & Zickgraf, C. (2025). Habitability for a connected, unequal and changing world. Global Environmental Change 90 e102953. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102953. Shaw, S., Chattopadhyay, A., Dey, S., & Hoffmann, R. (2025). The association of temperature extremes, ecosystem resilience, with child mortality: Novel evidence from India. Environmental Research 267 e120690. 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120690. Tebecis, T. & Crespo Cuaresma, J. (2025). A dataset of structural breaks in greenhouse gas emissions for climate policy evaluation. Scientific Data 12 (1) 10.1038/s41597-024-04321-w. Umansky, K., Weber, D. , & Lutz, W. (2025). Revisiting the role of education in attitudes toward immigration in different contexts in Europe. Genus 81 (1) 10.1186/s41118-024-00238-9. Scolobig, A., Martin, J. , Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Aguilera Rodriguez, J.J., & Fresolone-Caparrós, A. (2025). Policy, finance, and capacity-building innovations for scaling nature-based solutions. In: Nature-Based Solutions in Supporting Sustainable Development Goals. Eds. Pan, H., Kalantari, Z., Ferreira, C., & Cong, C., pp. 129-151 Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-443-21782-1 10.1016/B978-0-443-21782-1.00002-6.