Mathias Lerch

Expertise Population & developmentSwiss & international demographyData collection | linkage | quality assessmentDemographic estimation | multi-regional projection | statistical & spatial modeling Expertise Population & developmentSwiss & international demographyData collection | linkage | quality assessmentDemographic estimation | multi-regional projection | statistical modeling Mathias Lerch heads the Urban Demography Laboratory (URBDEMO) at the Faculty of Natural, Architectural and Build Environment (ENAC), Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). To improve understanding of urban population growth, Lerch has developed multi-disciplinary research interests in the components of demographic change (mortality/health, fertility and migration), as well as in their interactions with socioeconomic and environmental developments.Before joining the EPFL, Lerch has acted as the deputy head of the Laboratory of Fertility and Well-Being at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. He has analyzed and taught population change at various Swiss and German universities, as well as at statistical offices, often in transition countries. Since 2008, he has regularly advised national governments, United Nations entities, survey programs and NGOs on population issues and data collection. Teaching & PhD PhD Students Wenxiu Du, Dorothee Beckendorff Courses Border Forensics PENS-318 This course introduces forms of violence linked to state borders and social boundaries in Switzerland. Drawing on the work of Border Forensics, it presents transdisciplinary investigative methods—from geostatistical analysis to (auto-)ethnography—used to document and contest this violence. Urban demography AR-507 This course introduces theoretical developments and empirical evidence on city population change worldwide, as well as on its interactions with sustainable development. Students will learn how to identify sociodemographic profiles of cities to better serve them.