IPC 2021 is “ON”, but will take on a new form! 

 

The International Population Conference 2021 (IPC 2021) scheduled to take place in Hyderabad, India, will go on but will now have a completely different format. Instead of being a fully “live” onsite conference, IPC 2021 will be hybrid, most likely a combination of several in-person sessions in India, while most sessions will be virtual. IPC 2021 will run on and around 5-10 December 2021 as initially planned, so save those dates!

 

It will come as no surprise that the organizers had to change the conference format due to the global COVID 19 pandemic. Putting the health and safety of our participants before anything else, the IUSSP and the Indian organizers jointly concluded that a new format was unavoidable and a hybrid conference the best possible option. The pandemic is still highly volatile and likely to remain so for some time with multiple impacts on health, economic, and financial conditions that are essential for a successful conference. Because of these impacts and uncertainties, many of our colleagues will also likely not be able to travel internationally.  With this in mind, and with great regret, we had no option but to cancel our contract with the Hyderabad International Convention Centre.

 

In these exceptional circumstances, we believe a novel, hybrid or predominantly virtual IPC 2021 is the best way to connect our worldwide population community. While we regret that most of us will not have the pleasure to travel to India for this conference, we will try our utmost to keep the spirit of India alive in our new format and plan to hold the face-to-face component in India. 

 

IPC 2021 will be a new experience for all of us, and all those in the population field are encouraged to join!

 

The change to a virtual format removes the need to provide a long lead time between the announcement of paper acceptance and the conference.  The organizers have thus decided to extend the deadline for the Call for Papers to 15 May 2021.  We will be providing more information on the new format soon. 

 

The Steering Committee of IPC 2021, on behalf of the IPC 2021 International and National Organizing Committees, as well as the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and the Indian Association for the Study of Population (IASP).