The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Vienna-based demographer Sergei Scherbov a 2.25 million euro grant for a research project that sets out to redefine age and investigate improved methods for predicting life expectancy. Mr. Scherbov is doing research at the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Human Capital, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), based in Laxenburg, near Vienna, and the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID), which is part of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
A research project to redefine age

In the course of the ERC project, Sergei Scherbov plans to develop new methods for measuring age, taking into account factors such as life expectancy, health, impairment, cognitive skills, and fitness to work. Mr. Scherbov also wants to develop better methods for predicting life expectancy in the future. Experts are divided over whether there is a natural limit to the human lifespan or it can be extended indefinitely.

Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Human Capital

The latest research grant is the sixth ERC grant awarded to the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Human Capital, a collaboration between WU, the IIASA, and the VID. Over the next few years, the Wittgenstein Centre aspires to become one of the world's leading centers in the field of demographic analyses of how human capital is built and how it impacts society and the economy. The EU awards ERC Advanced Grants to support ambitious, high-risk research projects.

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