Roman Hoffmann
Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar
Migration and Sustainable Development Research Group
Population and Just Societies Program
Biography
Roman Hoffmann leads the Migration and Sustainable Development Research Group in the IIASA Population and Just Societies Program. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Vienna, Austria, and degrees in sociology and economics from the University of Munich, Germany.In his applied research, he studies the relationship between climate change and population dynamics and the resulting implications for sustainable development. In particular, his work focuses on investigating the underlying causes, patterns, and consequences of different types of migration, with an emphasis on the links between environmental factors and human mobility. He is also interested in climate change mitigation and sustainability, including drivers of environmental concern, pro-environmental behaviors, and support for climate action.
Prior to his current position, he worked at the Vienna Institute of Demography, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the University of Vienna, the University of Munich, and the Bavarian State Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning. In 2012, he was a visiting scholar at the University of the Philippines, School of Economics in Manila. He has consulted and collaborated with several international organizations, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Additionally, he has worked with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), the City of Munich, and various non-governmental organizations.
He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Population-Environment Research Network (PERN) of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and a member of the IUSSP Panel on Population Dynamics under Global Conflict and Climate Change. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the journals Climatic Change, Population and Environment, and the Climate Mobility Section of Frontiers in Climate.
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Last update: 08 AUG 2024
Publications
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.
Brisebois, A. & Hoffmann, R. (2026). Gender and climate change: differential risks and resilience among internal migrants at their urban destination in coastal Bangladesh. Climate and Development 1-14. 10.1080/17565529.2026.2651955. (In Press)
Gräser, M., Grimm, C., & Hoffmann, R. (2026). Humor for health: a randomized controlled trial of clown visits in Palestinian hospitals. World Development 200 e107263. 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107263.
Cattaneo, C., Shayegh, S., Albert, C., Alsina-Pujols, M., Benveniste, H., Borderon, M., Conte, B., Deuster, C., Görlach, J.-S., Haer, T., Hoffmann, R., Muttarak, R., Ronco, M., Schewe, J., & Wiśniowski, A. (2026). Broadening climate migration research across impacts, adaptation and mitigation. Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02545-1.