Ursula M. Staudinger

There were an estimated 600 million people aged 60 and above worldwide in the year 2000. This number is expected to more than triple by the year 2050. Are aged societies a problem? If yes, what are the solutions? Read more

Ursula Staudinger received the Braunschweig Research Prize worth 30,000 Euro for her outstanding research work on the plasticity of the aging process and its consequences for demographic change. Read more

Ursula Staudinger was invited for the second time by the Tsao Foundation to deliver the charity’s annual lecture on ageing and productivity. In her key note she emphasized that old age and productivity can indeed go very well together. However, according to her research the “mindset of a company” is a crucial determinant of productivity. “If everyone believes these (older) workers are less productive and this is reinforced by supervisors and company leaders, then this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” she said. Thus, companies and countries alike must begin to focus on “qualitative growth”. This essentially means an investment in each individual by raising the health and educational level so that people are more motivated to work – and do well in their jobs even in their later years. Read more

24-year-old TIME editor Jack Dickey wants to find out more about his future retirement and asks several experts what to expect. Ursula Staudinger tells him that the healthiest seniors are the ones who keep working. Moreover, she says that retirement as we have long known it wastes the healthy minds of good people. Read more

Ursula Staudinger will deliver the keynote speech “Change and Growth – a Paradox?” at the Nobel Week Dialogue in Stockholm on 9th December. This year’s event is on the theme of ageing and provides new scientific and cultural perspectives on societies of longer lives. The public can meet and engage with a unique constellation of Nobel Laureates, world-leading scientists and thought leaders in a dialogue on the opportunities and challenges of an ageing world. The annual event is free to attend. Read more