Claudia Herbst is a research assistant at the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID/OEAW) and a doctoral candidate at the University of Salzburg (PLUS). Her work focuses on empirical population sociology, particularly in the areas of fertility and family formation.

Her master’s thesis, titled “Kinderwunsch in Zeiten globaler Unsicherheiten: Über den Einfluss von Zukunftsängsten auf reproduktive Einstellungen”, was awarded the BestMasters Springer Award. Most recently, she contributed to the Science-to-Public Report of the Austrian “Generations and Gender Survey” and worked as a project collaborator on the youth study “Arbeits- und Lebensbedingungen junger Menschen in Salzburg,” conducted in cooperation with the Salzburg Chamber of Labour (AKS). She has been a member of the ÖGS Section on Family Research since 2023.

Beginning in November 2025, she joined the research group “Demography of Austria” (Research Group Leader: Dr. Isabella Buber-Ennser) to work on the project “Children of Separated Parents: Living with Mothers and Fathers. Vienna and Austria in a Comparative Setting” (KiGeZu).