Essential characteristics of the center

The Research Center for Demographic Analysis, Models, and Methods is thematically broad, ranging from basic to purely applied research. The unifying element is the possibility of using demographic tools and methods of analysis, demographic modeling, and methodological research. The questions addressed are devoted to the basic trends of population development in Czechia, Europe, and other parts of the world and the use of demographic tools in applied analysis, incl. clinical studies. A separate research topic is the cohort (generational) analysis of mortality conditions in Czechia. The research center members participated in preparing the official Population Projection of the Czech Republic published by the Czech Statistical Office in 2023. The research center is the base for the Working Group on Health, Morbidity, and Mortality steering committee (HMM WG of the European Association for Population Studies).

 

About the team

As an inter-university center, the research center cooperates with the University of Economics. Within the faculty, the team members are involved in the research projects SYRI and ESSPIN and also in building the UNCE Map Portal. Intensive cooperation is mainly implemented with the GeoQol center (Center for Research on Inequalities in Health). International cooperation occurs primarily with the Universidad del País Vasco (Bilbao, Spain), e.g., within the WorkDeathIneq research project, and with CHAIN – Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research, Trondheim, Norway (NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology).

Researchers:

  • RNDr. Klára Hulíková Tesárková, Ph.D.
  • Ivana Kulhánová, Ph.D.

External collaborator:

Students:

  • Adéla Pola (Ph.D. student)
  • Adam Dušek (Ph.D. student)
  • Karolína Skurčáková (MA student of Demography)
  • Jolana Pavlátová (MA student of Demography)

 

A more detailed description of the center's ongoing activities

  • In 2023, team members (K. Hulíková, P. Mazouch, A. Pola) participated in preparing the latest official Population Projection of the Czech Republic published by the Czech Statistical Office (link).
  • Since 2023, team members (K. Hulíková, P. Mazouch) have been part of the international WorkDeathIneq project (Project PID2022-142762OA-I00 "Multidimensional Social Inequalities as Demographic Determinants: Mortality Inequalities, Excess Mortality, and Working Life Expectancy (WorkDeathIneq)", Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain).
  • Since 2020, team members have been involved in research on the COVID-19 pandemic. The research takes place primarily within the framework of a research project SYRIand in collaboration with the research center GeoQol (Center for Health Inequalities Research).
  • In 2020–2022, two volunteer student projects took place. In one project, “COVID-19: Demografická aplikace v SAS“, three student internships were implemented, and selected results and statistics were continuously updated and used by the media and professional communities dealing with pandemic issues. The second student’s project, “Aktuální trendy pandemie COVID-19 v Česku – demografická perspektiva analýzy/Current trends of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic – demographic perspective of the analysis“, was included in the 20 best student projects of the year as part of the global SAS Curiosity Cup 2022.
  • Further research traditionally focuses on analyzing mortality factors, especially at the level of chronic and degenerative causes of death. Socio-economic factors or the possible influence of screening programs are investigated. One of the research questions deals with analyzing convergence trends in reproductive behavior, focusing on mortality in the post-socialist space. A dissertation on this topic is being worked on within the research center.
  • Current research topics also include the demography of genocides and crises, including the possibility of researching the impact of similar events on demographic development. A dissertation on this topic is being worked on within the research center.
  • Population aging and changes in the age structure are addressed both at the level of Czechia and Europe and within case studies of other populations worldwide.
  • One of the critical outputs of the center's members was the reconstruction of cohort and transversal mortality data and cohort mortality tables back to 1870, following the GAČR inter-university project "Generational mortality tables of the Czech Republic: data, biometric functions and trends" (solver Prof. Rychtaříková (Faculty of Science, Charles University), co-solver P. Mazouch). Research in this area continues through the reconstruction of detailed mortality data and within the framework of cohort mortality analysis.
  • Team members are involved in clinical epidemiological research at Motol University Hospital in Prague (K. Hulíková) and St. Anne Hospital in Brno (I. Kulhánová). Using demographic and statistical approaches in medical data analysis opens up opportunities for improving the quality of care provided and enriching demographic research, especially in the methodological area.
  • The center incorporates the organizational base of the Health, Morbidity, and Mortality Working Group of the European Association for Population Studies, which organizes regular meetings across Europe (https://hmmwg.vse.cz/). 
  • Center members also participate in events and seminars for the public or schools (e.g., Charles Junior University, regular meetings with geography teachers, etc.). 

 

Research projects involving team members

  • Project PID2022-142762OA-I00 „Multidimensional Social Inequalities as Demographic Determinants: Mortality Inequalities, Excess Mortality, and Working Life Expectancy (WorkDeathIneq)“, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain (1. 9. 2023–31. 8. 2027).
  • SYRI-NPO "Systemic Risk Institute", no. LX22NPO5101, funded by European Union - Next Generation EU (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, NPO: EXCELES) (2022–2025)
  • ESSPIN "Economic, Social and Spatial Inequalities in the Era of Global Mega-trends", HORIZON-CL2-2021-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-03 (2022–2025)
  • University center of excellence No. UNCE/HUM/018 (2018–2021)
  • Project No. 15-19601S „The Early Stage of Transformation of the Reproductive Behaviour in Bohemia from the Second Half of the 18th Century to the End of the 19th Century“, Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GA ČR). (2015–2017)
  • Project No. P404/12/0883 „Generační úmrtnostní tabulky České republiky: data, biometrické funkce a trendy“/”Cohort mortality tables of the Czech Republic: data, biometric functions, and trends”, Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GA ČR). (2012–2016)

 

Topics of qualification theses solved by current or past student members of the Center

Currently solved theses

  • Konvergentní a divergentní tendence úmrtnosti v Evropě se zaměřením na post-socialistický prostor v poválečném období / Convergent and divergent mortality trends in Europe with a focus on the post-socialist area in the post-war period (Ph.D.)
  • Demografie krizí / Demography of crises (Ph.D.)
  • Vztah úrovně předčasné úmrtnosti a vývoje demografické dividendy na příkladu států asijských tygrů / The relationship between the level of premature mortality and development of the demographic dividend on the example of asian tiger states (MA)

Defended theses

  • Participace seniorů na trhu práce v Jižní Koreji v souvislosti s demografickým stárnutím / Labour market participation of seniors in South Korea in relation to the demographic aging (BA)
  • Předčasná úmrtnost – možnosti analýzy a základní mezinárodní srovnání / Premature mortality – possibilities of analysis and basic international comparison (BA)
  • Demografická dividenda a populační moment v Číně a Indii: Zhodnocení dosavadního průběhu a potenciální budoucí vývoj / Demographic dividend and population momentum in China and India: Evaluation of the current course and potential future development (BA)
  • Demografický vývoj v Kambodži od druhé poloviny 20. století / Demographic development in Cambodia since the second half of the 20th century (BA)
  • Demografie genocid / Demography of Genocides (MA)
  • Analýza nadúmrtnosti v souvislosti s pandemií COVID-19 v letech 2020 a 2021 ve vybraných státech střední Evropy / Excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 in selected Central European countries (MA)