Population Research Centre Groningen

An inspiring story about one of our alumni!

25 years ago, Mohammad Masud Reza received an Eric Bleumink Fellowship to study #Demography in Groningen🏅 Today, he leads large-scale HIV and AIDS research in Bangladesh at icddr,b🔎

We’re proud his journey started with us!

www.rug.nl/alumni/magaz...

Results in Brief: #MeaningfulMobility

Ageing well isn’t just about staying active. It’s about #balance⚖️

Our colleague Louise Meijering led this ERC-funded project comparing older adults in India, the Netherlands and the UK.

Read more here: cordis.europa.eu/article/id/4...

Waar blijven de baby’s? Waarom het geboortecijfer blijft dalen, in Nederland en ver daarbuiten In Nederland en veel vergelijkbare landen blijft het geboortecijfer dalen. Landen halen van alles uit de kast om hun inwoners te stimuleren meer kinderen te krijgen. Maar wat werkt? ‘Ik heb geen behoe...

Our colleague @billiedehaas.bsky.social offers insight into why birth rates keep declining, in the Netherlands and far beyond📉👶🌍

Article in Dutch: www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/w...

Tegen 2050 is een op de vier mensen op aarde Afrikaans. Groeit het continent ‘explosief’? Een nadere blik legt een hardnekkig misverstand bloot Demografie: Tegen 2050 zal een op de vier mensen op aarde in Afrika wonen. Achter het beeld van „explosieve groei” in Afrika gaan uiteenlopende realiteiten schuil. „Demografie is geen natuurfenomeen, ...

In onze Master #PopulationStudies leer je zelf bevolkingsprognoses maken en bediscussiëren we de aannames én gevolgen van bevolkingsgroei voor welzijn en klimaat zoals besproken in dit NRC artikel: l8.nu/1pKZm

Lijkt dat je wat? Meer info over onze master vind je hier: www.rug.nl/masters/popu...

Announcement of the course ‘Microsimulation Methods in Demography: Fertility Applications’ from June 11 to 17, 2026, at the MPIDR in Rostock.

Practical introduction to microsimulation methods for demographic research with a focus on fertility modeling.

Course description on simulation techniques in demographic research with a focus on agent-based models and dynamic microsimulation.

Announcement of a workshop on microsimulation methods in demography with a focus on fertility applications, June 11–17, 2026.

‼️IDEM 118 Course‼️
𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆: 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
📅11-17 June 2026
🗺️Rostock, Germany
@mpidr.bsky.social, IMPRS-PHDS
📝Application deadline: March 13, 2026
www.demogr.mpg.de/go/idem2026-118
#Demography #Fertility #DynamicModels #AgentBasedModeling #DataScience #RStats

A more realistic picture of older adults’ activity spaces: combining spatial and bodily micro-movements The everyday activities of older adults are enabled through numerous micro-movements, which are small spatial and bodily movements and non-movements e…

Our former colleague Zeinab published the final paper of her PhD!
The study finds that larger #activityspaces are associated with lower #bodilymovement among #olderadults, showing that travelling further doesn’t mean moving more in everyday life

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A bivariate catastrophe model for non-orthogonal decentralized digital currencies The increasing integration of cryptocurrencies into global financial markets has created new channels of systemic fragility, driven not only by extrem…

Our colleague Rolando just published a paper in International Review of Economics & Finance!

The paper looks at #Bitcoin and #Ethereum side by side, asking how their movements are linked🪙🔗

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Weather update ❄️

UG buildings will close all day tomorrow, with a few exceptions. If possible, education will take place online.

Today, most buildings will close at 5 p.m.

Read more 👇
www.rug.nl/news/2026/01...

Today we listened to a very inspiring talk about #queering #demography by our former student @blangereis.bsky.social 🏳️‍🌈🌎 Thank you for visiting us & we can’t wait to see more of your PhD work in the future!

Warm wishes for 2026 from the Population Research Center, straight from a snowy Groningen! ❄️ We’re looking forward to sharing interesting news and insights with you in the year ahead.

Spooky tales for Halloween: the winners of the UKrant writing competition UKrant received around forty-five submissions for its horror-story writing competition. Here are the three winning stories.

Spooky news from PRC! Our colleague Rolando won 3rd prize in our university’s newspaper UKrant Halloween horror story contest! 👻 His tale “This story was NOT written with AI” awaits… if you dare! Wait for the animation, then pick story #3

👉 ukrant.nl/magazine/spo...

🎃 Meet Reviewer #2, visiting our department this Halloween! He’s here to scold our papers, question our methods, and whisper “major revisions” in the dark 👻

Call for presenters!

The “Linking Research, Policy & Practice” event unites young researchers, policymakers & practitioners in SRHR & global health 🌍

🔗 share-eu1.hsforms.com/1HwKM_h9ZRAW...

Proud that our colleague @billiedehaas.bsky.social is on the organizing team!

Kinderen, ja of nee Kinderen: ja of nee? Het is een vraag die tegenwoordig makkelijker openlijk besproken wordt. In die gesprekken over eventueel aanstaand ouderschap is meer ruimte voor twijfels, zoals over het opgeven ...

Our colleague Billie de Haas was recently interviewed by the FD!

fd.nl/samenleving/...

We're hiring!🔔

Roselinde van der Wiel & Matthijs Kalmijn are looking for a PhD researcher for a project on how #jointphysicalcustody arrangements after separation shape—and are shaped by—parents’ #spatialmobility and #repartnering

‼️Interested? Apply before October 20th!

www.rug.nl/about-ug/wor...

📚💡 Our colleague Rolando Gonzales Martinez just published ULTRA: a dive into dystopian AI nightmares and utopian dreams. While different from our population research focus, it raises questions about intelligence, technology, and what it means to be human.

👉 books.ugp.rug.nl/ugp/catalog/...

Last Monday, we welcomed #censusmanagement expert Bart de Bruijn! He gave a very interesting guest lecture on his experience in advising dozens of countries from the #GlobalSouth in the best way to organise their censuses🌍📖

Our Master Population Studies students visited the Municipality of Groningen's research department (OIS) as part of the course Demographic Data and Analysis 🌍📊 They learned how research informs policy through surveys, panel studies, CBS microdata, and PowerBI dashboards. Thank you OIS!

✨Gezocht:✨ Onderzoeksmedewerker (0,3 fte) bij de @frw-rug.bsky.social ! Werk mee aan het project 'Een thuis voor Home & Place Making: methodiek & trainingen implementeren voor mensen met niet-aangeboren hersenletsel'.

📅 Solliciteren kan tot 28 sept.

Meer info & eisen 👉 www.rug.nl/about-ug/wor...

Last week, our colleague @billiedehaas.bsky.social joined the talk “Wil ik een kind?” at Forum Groningen. She shared her insights on what shapes couples' choices about having kids today. Really interesting discussion on personal decisions, power dynamics, and societal trends!

Photo by: Ykka de Jong

Wil ik een kind?

Vanavond in het Forum in Groningen: Wil ik een kind? Waar onder andere Billie de Haas de normen en aannames rondom een kinderwens onder de loep neemt
forum.nl/nl/agenda/ta...

Join us for the European Researchers' Night 2025 in Forum Groningen 🙌

Everybody is welcome, whether you are a researcher, student or just interested in all kinds of science 🧪

Get your tickets now 🎟️
forum.nl/nl/agenda/eu...

Our colleague Rolando Gonzalez Martinez has received a grant from the Jantina Tammes School to develop "Lines of Tension: Human-AI Co-Creation or Antagonism?"🎉

He will present this #art & #AI project at the upcoming European Researchers’ Night 2025 @ Forum Groningen, Sept 26!🎨💻

The NWO recently funded the €3.8M BEAT Project (Building Equitable Accessibility Together)! Louise Meijering leads the #Geographies of #Inclusivity work package, with Farzaneh Bahrami & Bettina van Hoven, focusing on the everyday #barriers that quietly undermine #accessibility

tinyurl.com/3jzdp2da

An assistant professor position in Tilburg, in the sociology of social inequalities.

Universitair Docent in de Sociologie van Sociale Ongelijkheid Tilburg University | Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences is op zoek naar een Universitair Docent in de Sociologie van Sociale Ongelijkheid, Departement Sociologie, locatie Tilburg.

Our #Sociology department is looking for an #AssistantProfessor in the field of Social Inequality (with the possibility for a permanent contract).

www.academictransfer.com/en/jobs/3546...

@sociologytiu.bsky.social @tilburg-university.bsky.social @academic-chatter.bsky.social #academicjobs

Wil ik een kind?

This Wednesday, our colleague Billie de Haas will be at the #Forum in #Groningen to discuss her research on conversations around couples' desires of having children & her card game (hetkinderspel.nl) that helps couples in their decision process👶🧩

🕑20:00 - 21:30 (in Dutch)

forum.nl/nl/agenda/ta...

🔊 We’re looking for researchers working on migration at universities, research institutes, and think-tanks in Africa and Europe.

👉 We’re conducting a study to understand how researchers think about the drivers of international migration.

📋 Take the survey here: mpcsurveys.limesurvey.net/acd

🆕 New paper by our colleague Rolando Gonzales Martinez in Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics! 🔎 He introduces a nonlinear morphogenetic model of fertility shifts, linking micro- and macro-level patterns—grounded in our “oliebollen theory.” 🍩

📄👉 doi.org/10.1515/snde...

Zorgbehoefte van ouderen speelt nauwelijks rol bij verhuizen om dichterbij familie te wonen - NIDI Wie gaat er dichter bij de ouders wonen als hun ouderdom met gebreken komt? En wie van de ouderen gaat juist in de buurt van de kinderen wonen? Op basis van nieuwe data over wonen en verhuizen laten w...

📄 New article! Our colleague Clara Mulder, together with Niels Kooiman, wrote in Demos (Aug 29, 2025) that while living closer to family can matter, care needs hardly influence moving—neither for adult children nor for older adults.

🔗 In Dutch: nidi.nl/demos/zorgbe...