2026 Young Scientist Summer Program (YSSP)
IIASA, Laxenburg (Vienna), Austria, 1 June-28 August 2026
- Deadline for applications: 12 January 2026 (midnight CET)
The Young Scientist Summer Program (YSSP), which takes place from June to August, is designed for PhD students (ideally about 2 years prior to receiving their PhD) working on a topic compatible with ongoing research at IIASA and a wish to explore the policy implications of their work. Participants will be working under the direct mentorship of an experienced IIASA scientist in a unique interdisciplinary and international research environment. They will produce a paper (serving as first step towards a publishable journal article) and will get the opportunity to build up contacts for future collaboration within the institute's worldwide network.
As YSSP representatives of IIASA’s Population and Just Societies (POPJUS) Program, we particularly welcome applications of candidates interested in human-centered and population-based approaches to understanding drivers of population change, sustainable development, and wellbeing.
Please do not hesitate to contact Guillaume Marois and Elliott Woodhouse should you have any questions or require further information.
Summer Research Visit: Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program
MPIDR, Rostock, Germany, 8 June–21 August 2026
- Application deadline: 14 January 2026 (23:59 CET)
The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) is inviting applications from qualified and highly motivated students for a Summer Research Visit.
The goal of the Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program is to enable discovery by bringing together data scientists and population scientists to work on focused, intensive and collaborative projects of broad societal relevance.
For a period of 3 months (June 8th – August 21st, 2026) participating students will work in small teams, with support from experienced mentors, towards a common research goal. For the summer of 2026, the focus of the program will be on two main research areas:
- “Spatial Mobility and Scientific Production” mentored by Aliakbar Akbaritabar, Andrés Castro (Computational Social Science and Humanities Programme of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (CSSH-BSC)), and Irena Chen
- “Digitalization, AI, and Inequalities” mentored by Carolina Coimbra Vieira, Megan Evans, Nkechi S. Owoo (University of Ghana) and Emilio Zagheni
Participating students will be exposed to best practices across the social sciences and data sciences while contributing to a hands-on project experience that will result in a scientific journal article. All participants will also have access to lectures and will be able to participate in other scientific activities taking place at the MPIDR.
Applicants must be enrolled in a doctoral or master’s university program (at the time they visit the MPIDR).
In order to receive full consideration, applications should be received by January 14th 2026 (11:59 p.m. CET).
More information can be obtained here.
Summer School on ‘Micro-Census Insights into Historical Households, Mortality and Fertility’
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 6-17 July 2026
- Application deadline: 2 February 2026
The Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure (Campop) invites applications for a two-week Summer School on ‘Micro-Census Insights into Historical Households, Mortality and Fertility’, held at University of Cambridge from July 6-17th, 2026. The course is co-organised with European Society of Historical Demography (ESHD) and COST-Action GREATLEAP.
This advanced course on historical demography introduces students to key approaches for analysing micro-census data. The sessions will include mixtures of theory and practise, giving students the opportunity to work with census datasets from a range of countries and time periods (including the UK, IPUMS USA and International). Using quantitative, spatial and indirect estimation techniques, we will explore patterns in historical mortality and health, fertility, marriage and migration.
For more information: https://www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk/events/microcensus/