Sergei Scherbov

Sergei Scherbov is a leading demographer and holds multiple key positions including Deputy Program Director of the World Population Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Director of Demographic Analysis at the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (a collaboration between IIASA, VID/ÖAW, and WU), and Leader of the Population Dynamics and Forecasting Research Group at the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID), Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is also a Guest Professor at the Department of Socioeconomics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) and an Affiliated Professor at the College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

His educational background includes a PhD in Theory of Systems, Control Theory, and Systems Analysis from the Research Institute for Systems Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He has been affiliated with IIASA since 1986, joined as staff in 1987, and after a period at the University of Groningen (1991–2001), returned in 2002 to lead research on demographic modeling and forecasting.

Scherbov's research is centered on innovative approaches to measuring population aging, moving beyond chronological age to include health, cognitive ability, and functional status. His work emphasizes prospective measures of aging, probabilistic population projections, multistate demography, and the implications of aging for policy. He has extensively studied demographic trends in the former Soviet Union and low- and middle-income countries.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on redefining aging metrics, forecasting disability and activity limitations, assessing the impact of pandemics on life expectancy, and developing new human development indicators. These works span journals such as Science, Nature, PLOS ONE, and Scientific Reports, demonstrating interdisciplinary reach and high policy relevance.

His scientific recognition includes:

• European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (2012) for developing new approaches to studying age and aging

He has advised governments and international organizations including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and contributed to policy documents cited by the World Bank and U.S. Census Bureau. His leadership in global demographic research underscores his role as a key figure in shaping 21st-century population science.