Ursula M. Staudinger

This year’s Annual Assembly of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina took place from 19-21 September in Rostock, Germany. Ursula Staudinger, Vice-President of Leopoldina, spoke at the opening. The theme of the conference was „Perception and Control – Sensory Systems in Biology and Engineering”. An interdisciplinary group of approximately 300 participants examined sensory organs and their engineering counterparts, i.e. sensors. Read more

Ursula Staudinger was invited to hold the keynote on the Plasticity of Aging at the ReServe National Conference in Boston. She demonstrated the extraordinary ability we have to modify the aging process through changes within the body or in the external environment. Her research also suggests that programs like ReServe – where older adults learn new skills and meet interesting people – contribute to this plasticity. Staudinger told participants that „ReServing is good for you“, because older adults are encouraged to move out of their comfort zone and try out new activities. Thus, they will make the experience that they can also success in new areas. Read more

In an exclusive video interview with PROJECT M, Ursula Staudinger argues that depopulation is not only economically sustainable, but that it would also address two of the greatest challenges of modern times: environmental sustainability and demographic change. As a nation’s population decreases, so does its environmental footprint and, in this post-growth phase of world population development, societies would be forced to focus on qualitative rather than quantitative growth. Read more

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) has named 61 exemplary professionals – among them Ursula Staudinger – as its newest fellows. The status of fellow is the highest class of membership within the Society and an acknowledgment of outstanding and continuing work in gerontology. The new fellows will be formally recognized during GSA’s 67th Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington D.C. in November. Read more

Nearly 40 leading researchers, policy experts and journalists participated in this year’s Age Boom Academy, a joint event hosted by the Columbia Aging Center and the Columbia Journalism School, to look into the issues of „Over-65 Voters and the Changing Political Landscape“. Ursula Staudinger presented her latest research findings on aging and demonstrated how the meaning of chronological age is relative. Thus, it would make more sense to generally speak of particular birth cohorts instead of a specific age. Moreover, Staudinger emphasized that our own perceptions of old age have a great impact on how we act and experience this stage in life. Read more