The Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies (BRISPO) is an interdisciplinary research centre composed of sociologists, demographers, economists, psychologists, statisticians, and human geographers. Its members conduct research on the socioeconomic, cultural, and demographic dimensions of patterns of social inequality within Belgium, Europe, and beyond.
Recent news
Open letter to the new Minister of Equal Chances (in Dutch)
Professor Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe wrote an open letter to Rob Beenders: "Fight for your competences".
Opinion piece about planned pension reforms by Patrick Deboosere (in Dutch)
The article published online on Knack critically analyzes the pension reforms planned by the De Wever government in Belgium.
What does the work of a modern butler say about social inequalities today?
An interview with Bryan Boyle, a guest professor and a PhD candidate from BRISPO.
BRISPO policy brief “Geen tijd voor de dokter” gepubliceerd (in Dutch)
Belgische werknemers missen opvallend vaak medische zorg omdat ze geen vrijaf kunnen nemen op werk, schrijft Maarten Hermans.
Opiniestuk in SamPol: "Van gastvrij tot gentrificatie: Airbnb in Brussel"
Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe pleit vóór een Airbnb dat trouw blijft aan haar oorspronkelijke deelfilosofie.
Paul De Vroede Award for dr. Jessie Gevaert
The award supports doctoral research with societal relevance in the humanities. Congratulations!
New paper on trust in scientists published in Nature Human Behaviour
Among the authors of the article "Trust in Scientists and Their Role in Society Across 68 Countries" are Bram Spruyt and Johem van Noord from BRISPO who were working on the project led by Viktoria Cologna and Niels Mede.
New publication on novel data sources in cross-border mobility research
The article authored by, inter alia, Tuba Bircan, was published in the Journal of Computational Social Science.
Upcoming events
Practical info-Cosmopolis Lunch Seminar with Iris Egea
Iris Egea (from BRISPO) will talk about "Sustainable Rural Communities: Comparing migrant receptivity and the revitalisation of two rural towns in Spain and Ireland".
Practical info-Lecture: Dr. Laure Tall | Human Mobility and Agricultural Resilience in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change (ONLINE)
European Social and Population Issues Lecture Series
Practical info-MIrreM Spring School
Approaching irregular migration from a quantitative perspective: data, estimates, methods
Practical info-Lecture: Prof. Alina Sîrbu | Big Data and Cultural Integration (ONLINE)
European Social and Population Issues Lecture SeriesPaul De Vroede Award Ceremony for Dr. Jessie Gevaert
The award was presented for the doctoral dissertation "Job Quality and the Mental Well-being of (Solo) Self-employed Workers".
Practical info-Lecture: Johan Surkyn | Irregular Migration: Combining Existing Datasets and Demographic Methods to Tackle a Debated Issue
European Social and Population Issues Lecture Series
Practical info-Lecture: Dr. Franz-Ferdinand Rothe | Automated inequalities: Questioning the sanctity of data in the age of AI
European Social and Population Issues Lecture Series
Practical info-Lecture: Prof. Caroline Zickgraf |Climate Change, (Im)mobility and Migration [Keynote speaker at the Belgian Demography Day, KULeuven]
European Social and Population Issues Lecture Series at the Belgian Demography Day, KULeuven
Practical info-Belgian Demography Day
The 5th edition of the Belgian Demography Day is organised by the Société Démographique Francophone de Belgique (SDFB) and the Vereniging Voor Demografie (VVD) in Leuven.
Practical info-Lecture: Prof. Carlos Arcila-Calderón | From Hate Speech to Hate Crime: Detecting Harmful Messages at Scale (ONLINE)
European Social and Population Issues Lecture Series
Practical info-Lecture: Dr. Haodong Qi | Modeling Climate-Induced Migration with Big Data and Explainable Machine Learning
European Social and Population Issues Lecture Series
Practical info-Interdisciplinary Conference CSW2025: Creating Sustainable Work
The interdisciplinary conference with academics, policymakers and stakeholders will take place in Stockholm, Sweden.
Practical info-Lecture: Prof. Alejandra Vives | Extreme Heat at Home, at Work and in Between
European Social and Population Issues Lecture Series
Practical info-6th Summer Institute in Urban Studies
The Summer Institute in Urban Studies provides an opportunity to investigate leading-edge theoretical and methodological questions, along with a range of associated career development issues, in the field of urban studies.
Top photo: Alex Wasey
