Presidential Letter 2024

Dear EAPS Members, dear Colleagues, dear Friends of Demography,

Exactly three months ago most of us were together for the largest scientific gathering about demography in Europe. EPC 2024 in Edinburgh was a great success. Personally, I enjoyed the quality, breadth and depth of the sessions, I benefited from the many opportunities for scientific exchange, and I cherish the memories of the time together with not only brilliant minds, but also wonderful colleagues and friends. And this is not to mention the Scottish bagpipes… As summer is drawing down, I invite you to take a look at some pictures of the EPC 2024 opening ceremony and the closing session. Please also join me in thanking Hill Kulu, Elspeth Graham, their teams, and everyone who contributed behind the scenes, for the excellent work, dedication and love that they put into organizing the conference.

Shortly after EPC 2024, the new EAPS Council met online, and we will continue to hold monthly online meetings to coordinate the activities of the association. After a summer break in August, we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get back to work. But, first of all, we would like to express our gratitude for the trust that you have placed in us. It is an honor for us to serve EAPS and our community, and we will do our best to build upon the excellent work of previous councils and to further advance demographic research and training.

In order to foster scientific exchange beyond the European Population Conference, EAPS supports, among others, a number of Working Groups. We will keep you posted on their upcoming activities with this newsletter. In the meanwhile, I encourage you to check the scope of the working groups, and their past activities, on the working groups webpage. If you are interested in contributing to working group activities, please get in touch with members of the respective group’s steering committee. If you are interested in organizing new working groups that complement existing ones, please take a look at the call for new working groups.

A couple of weeks ago, a new cohort of 15 students of the European Doctoral School of Demography (EDSD) started their classes. EDSD is an eleven-month program sponsored by a consortium of leading demographic institutions in Europe, under the aegis of EAPS. The program is offered every year with the aim of providing students with an appropriate high-level education in demography to pursue their doctoral studies. We wish the EDSD students a successful and enriching year!

Over the next months, major conferences organized by regional associations will take place, including the Latin American Population Conference and the Asian Population Conference, in addition to many national conferences in Europe and beyond, culminating in the IUSSP International Population Conference next July. If you have the chance to attend one or more of the upcoming population conferences and events, please do not miss the opportunity to tell our friends, both in Europe and all over the world, that everyone is welcome to join us in beautiful Bologna for EPC 2026!

Best wishes,

Emilio Zagheni, EAPS President

September 2024