The Institute for Population and Human Studies is an academic centre for theoretical and applied interdisciplinary research in different fields of demography and psychology.
Part of the mission of IPHS is to carry out research of population reproduction processes as well as mechanisms for behavioural regulation with the purpose of assisting institutions in the implementation of strategies and policies for social and personal growth in the process of European integration and world globalization.
IPHS’ key research areas are as follows:
• Structural changes in population due to falling birth rates, ageing, migration, destabilisation of the family institution, morbidity and other societal changes;
• Demographic behaviour changes: theories, methodological research and empirical analyses in conditions of socio-economic and demographic challenges;
• Integration processes and national identity in the context of ethnic, religious, etc. diversity, increased population mobility and globalization;
• Changes in personal potential for development and lifelong learning and creating practical approaches for improving the quality of life.
In 2021, IPHS was awarded with an important prize from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for Current Research with significant contribution to society.
Stoyanka Cherkezova is an Associate Professor at the Department of Demography of the Institute for Population and Human Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her academic affiliation is in the field of Statistics and Demography with specialization in “Age and ethnic structures of population and migration”.
Her experience is based mainly on interdisciplinary researches, combining different academic fields – economics, sociology, demography, and statistics. She is deeply interested in issues like deprivation/exclusion and integration/inclusion of people who belong to discriminated and marginalised groups. Particular her expertise is related to equality regarding ethnicity and age, integration in employment, education and access to healthcare and social services of members of vulnerable communities, including Roma, elderly, and migrants.
Her professional interests are in the cross-border between academic and applied fields. Along with the research dimensions in her work, she always pursuit practical implications and solutions to existing challenges.