Human capital - education, skills, health, and capabilities - is a central driver of demographic change and a key lens for understanding social and economic development, inequality, and resilience. Demographic processes shape human capital accumulation across cohorts and generations, while human capital influences fertility, mortality, migration, and economic outcomes. In the context of climate change, human capital also conditions exposure, adaptive capacity, and long-term vulnerability.
At the same time, human capital trajectories unfold in diverse demographic and institutional settings. Across high-, middle-, and low-income countries, differences in education and health systems, economic structures, gender norms, migration regimes, and exposure to shocks shape human capital formation and its demographic consequences. This conference aims to foster dialogue across disciplines and geographies, encouraging comparative research.
This conference aims to advance theories, data, and multi-dimensional demographic methods for modelling human capital formation and its dynamics over time, and to connect cutting-edge evidence to policy debates globally. We welcome contributions from all disciplinary backgrounds and methodological traditions, including demography, economics, sociology, public health, geography, and data science.
We invite submissions addressing, among others:
The conference will take place immediately following the 50th anniversary celebration of the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) on 30 November 2026 at the same venue. There are also thematic overlaps between the two events. Conference participants are warmly invited to attend the VID’s 50th anniversary celebration as well.
Please submit
The short abstracts will appear on the conference website if accepted.
Please make sure your extended abstract includes the title, full name(s), affiliation(s) and e-mail address(es) of each author.
Anne Goujon (IIASA, VID/OeAW)
Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz (TU, VID/OeAW)
Marois Guillaume (IIASA)
Shalini Singh (DoD)
Tomáš Sobotka (VID/OeAW)
For any questions regarding the conference, please contact conference.vid(at)oeaw.ac.at
