23. November 2011 18:30
ESF awards 13th European Latsis Prize to James Vaupel on pioneering demographic research
The European Science Foundation (ESF) has awarded this year’s European Latsis Prize to Professor James W. Vaupel, of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany. The theme for this year’s prize was “Demography.” Professor Vaupel was awarded the prize for his contributions to research on ageing and lifespan, and his profound influence on demographic research. The Prize was awarded on the eve of the Annual Assembly of the European Science Foundation, which will take place on 24 November in Strasbourg, France.
The European Latsis Prize, entering its 13th year, is valued at 100,000 Swiss francs (€80,000). The Prize is funded by the Geneva-based Latsis Foundation and awarded by the ESF to an individual or a research group who, in the opinion of their peers, has made the greatest contribution to a particular field of European research. The theme “Mathematics” has been chosen for the 2012 Latsis Prize.
“The recognition of my work into demographic research is extremely flattering and I am delighted to be considered for such an esteemed award,” commented Vaupel. “This research has been my life work and I am extremely passionate about it. The world is continually changing – and demographic changes are quite fascinating. I like to say – based on our research – that 70 year-olds today are as healthy as 60 year-olds were 50 years ago. We are gaining about two additional years of healthy life every decade.”
James Vaupel is honoured for a lifetime of groundbreaking research into the biology of ageing, the statistics of senescence and the connection between public health and longevity. His key papers on mortality and lifespan have each been cited many hundreds of times, and he has been honoured by the Ipsen Foundation in France and twice by the Population Association of America. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. The Latsis Prize – announced in the month that the planet’s human population reached 7 billion – highlights the importance of both the discipline and his contribution to it.
He founded the Max Planck Institute in Rostock in 1996 and turned it into one of the world’s leading centres of demographic research. He and colleagues have looked for lessons about the dynamics of ageing – going also beyond the human species – to see if senescence is a property of all complex systems. But perhaps his most dramatic contribution is in the contention that there seems no looming limit to human lifespan: an argument he put with Jim Oeppen in Science in 2002.
The criteria used in the selection procedure are scientific excellence, societal impact, and contribution to European progress. The nominations were evaluated by a jury of eminent scientists in the field. Sir Roderick Floud, chairman of the jury that selected Professor Vaupel as the winner of this year’s prize remarks “Professor Vaupel was chosen because of his seminal contributions to several different fields within demography, his central role in the development of demographic research and training in Europe, and the importance of his work for the understanding of the "grand challenge" of population ageing in Europe.”
-end-
Notes to editors
About The European Latsis Prize
The European Latsis Prize is an annual award that has been running since 1999. Former recipients of the European Latsis Prize are Jürgen Baumert in 1999 for "Research and/or Innovation in Education", Kenneth Holmes in 2000 for "Molecular Structure", André Berger in 2001 for "Climate Research", Annette Karmiloff-Smith in 2002 for "Cognitive Sciences", Colin Renfrew in 2003 for "Archaeology", Amos Bairoch in 2004 for "Bioinformatics", Donal Bradley in 2005 for "Nano-Engineering", Rainer Bauböck in 2006 for "Immigration and Social Cohesion in Modern Societies", Willi Kalender in 2007 for "Medical Imaging". Simon White in 2008 for Astrophysics Professor Uta and Chris Frith in The Human Brain - The Human Mind and Ilkka Hanski, Finland in 2010 for Biodiversity
About ESF
The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an independent, non-governmental organisation that promotes collaboration in scientific research, funding of research and science policy across Europe. Its members are 78 national funding and research-performing organisations and learned societies from 30 countries. www.esf.org
James Vaupel’s work
James Vaupel was born in New York, USA, on 2 May 1945, and lives in Kerteminde in Denmark but works in Rostock, Germany, where he is the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. He and his wife have two daughters and one grandson. He is honoured for a lifetime of groundbreaking research into the biology of ageing, the statistics of senescence and the connection between public health and longevity. His key papers on mortality and lifespan have each been cited many hundreds of times, and he has been honoured by the Ipsen Foundation in France and twice by the Population Association of America. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. The Latsis Prize – announced in the month that the planet’s human population reached 7 billion – highlights the importance of both the discipline and his contribution to it.
His studies began with mathematical statistics and then public policy at Harvard Business School, but he completed his doctorate at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He became interested in mortality and demography while an assistant professor at Duke University, and while working part time in Washington DC for the Environmental Protection Agency and other government bodies concerned with protecting lives. He was puzzled by population differences.
He founded the Max Planck institute in Rostock in 1996 and turned it into one of the world’s leading centres of demographic research. He and colleagues have looked for lessons beyond living species: they have tested tens of thousands of light bulbs to see if senescence is a property of all complex systems. But perhaps his most dramatic contribution is in the contention that there seems no innate limit to human lifespan: an argument he put with Jim Oeppen in Science in 2002.
He and colleagues have begun to compile a database of supercentenarians: those people aged 110 years or more. This has not been easy: elderly people – or their younger relatives – may exaggerate their age and every claim must be checked against birth records. “We have managed to do this for 800 people. Of course, the number is doubling about every five years, so five years from now it might be 1600 and in another five years it might be 3,200,” he says.” Mortality improvements result from an intricate interplay of advances in income, sanitation, nutrition, education, medicine and so on.
“Since 1950, death rates have come down substantially for people above 60. It really has been quite amazing. And how has this progress been made? It has not been made by stretching the period of ageing. It has been made by delaying senescence. I like to say – based on our research – that 70 year-olds today are as healthy as 60 year-olds were 50 years ago. We are gaining about two additional years of healthy life every decade.”
