The Laboratory of Demographic and Social Analyses (Ldsa) of Univ. of Thessaly established in 1998 serves research and educational needs of the disciplines of Demography and Social Research Methodology, with special emphasis on the spatial analysis of demographic and social data. Ldsa also hosts the International Scientific Association DemoBalk (Demography of Balkans,www.demobalk.org).

Within the last two decades, LDSA, given the accumulated experience of its members and collaborators, has been oriented to: applied demographic analyses, analysis of the spatial dimension of demographic and social phenomena, population projections and, recently, the study of economic crisis impact on population growth. In parallel, it develops database analysis and management software, as well as cartography tools. Considerable specialization has been acquired in the development of user-friendly database management tools, applied statistical techniques and dynamic thematic mapping web applications.

Ldsa, has acquired the necessary infrastructure and has created multiple databases that enable further research development. More specifically, it has gathered data on post Second World War demographic developments Europe with special emphasis on the West Balkans and on EU countries and dispose a demographic database of Greece on the lowest possible spatial scale.

Within the framework of the Laboratory, Master dissertations as well as Ph.D. theses have been and are being elaborated. Furthermore, every year Ldsa organizes seminars, workshops, lectures and meetings in its fields of interest, with the collaboration of significant scholars and researchers from Greece and abroad.

The Ldsa research focuses on applied spatial demographic analysis and population projections, and, especially on the analysis of demographic developments in Greece and in the Balkans, the spatial dimensions of population changes (with emphasis to internal mobility), the analysis of international migration and refugee flows, as well as the impact of economic crisis on demographic components in southern European countries.