The Ageing, Longevity and Health (ALH) Working Group of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), established in 2006, brings together leading universities worldwide to address the urgent challenges of population ageing. The group was created to provide a platform for interdisciplinary exchange, strengthen international collaboration, and share expertise across diverse social and demographic contexts. Its founding mandate is to generate and disseminate scientific evidence to guide strategies for healthy longevity, while linking research with education, practice, and policy development.

Over the years, ALH has contributed through joint academic statements and cross-national dialogue, highlighting ageing as a critical global issue. Its research priorities span the biology of ageing, demographic, economic, social and environmental change, and the role of technology in ageing.

These efforts aim to improve health and well-being in later life and foster sustainable ageing societies. The group also promotes cross-cultural comparative studies and emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration, drawing on health sciences, social sciences, economics, and policy research. In addition, ALH supports early-career researcher (ECR) initiatives and organizes conferences, symposia, networking events, and graduate forums. Through these activities, ALH advances evidence generation and international cooperation to strengthen the collective response to ageing.

Since 2014, an IARU ALH Steering Group has been heading the initiative. The mission of the Steering Group is: to facilitate exchange of ideas and collaborative interdisciplinary research projects on human aging among IARU ALH researchers at IARU member universities. The Steering Group intends to meet once per year.