IIASA is taking a leading role in promoting science diplomacy and fostering debates about how science can help build trust between nations and support foreign policies.

IIASA was established in 1972 with the aim to use scientific cooperation to build bridges across the Cold War divide and to jointly confront growing problems on an international scale. This was the result of US President Lyndon B. Johnson initiative to create such an international research organization, which found support from Soviet Prime Minister Alexey Kosygin. Negotiations took several years and led to the signature of IIASA Charter in London in 1972 by twelve founding National Member Organizations from Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, UK, USA, USSR and West Germany. 

When the Cold War ended, IIASA broadened its mandate to achieve a greater global mandate. Today it continues to successfully provide scientific insight to policymakers worldwide by finding solutions to global problems through applied systems analysis. Building on its strengths, and within its overall research framework, IIASA delivers impact globally and to its member countries by helping them to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations through science diplomacy and through scientific input to international negotiations. 

With global problems becoming more complex and the world more divided, the concept of science diplomacy gained new traction. Science diplomacy is seen as a tool to foster relations between nations and as scientific support to foreign policies. Science diplomacy helps to ensure that foreign policies, as well as global policy efforts, remain informed by scientific evidence.

News

MSLA, UNFPA Armenia, and Ameria visit to IIASA

15 March 2023

IIASA, Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia, and UNFPA sign MoU

IIASA, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia (MLSA), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have strengthened their cooperation in the area of demography and population through signing a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding.
© Thittaya Janyamethakul | Dreamstime.com

28 February 2023

Indian Ambassador visits IIASA

H.E. Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar, Permanent Representative of the Republic of India to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, recently visited IIASA to meet with IIASA Director General Albert van Jaarsveld.
Wooden figures around a blue glass globe. Concept of cooperation and collaboration

20 January 2023

Austrian Federal Minister for Education, Science, and Research visits IIASA

IIASA recently welcomed Austria's Federal Minister for Education, Science, and Research, Martin Polaschek, to discuss ongoing research projects and explore potential collaborations between the institute and the Austrian government.

Events

29 November 2022 College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, College Park, MD, USA

IIASA Scientists at the Fifteenth IAMC Annual Meeting 2022

08 November 2022 IPCC Pavilion at COP27 and Online

IIASA scientists at the IPCC outreach program at COP27

Articles

11 June 2022

Systems of understanding - building a network of science diplomacy

Options Magazine, Summer 2022: As it forges the links of systems science, IIASA can also help to connect the world in a network of science diplomacy.
Systems

10 June 2022

Advancing systems science across the globe

Options Magazine, Summer 2022: In the last decade, IIASA has helped to establish several systems analysis research centres worldwide, partnering with local researchers from East to West and North to South to advance the discipline.
Advancing systems science across the globe

03 March 2022

Vienna as a global hub for science diplomacy

In November 2019, IIASA cohosted the annual global meeting of science advisors to ministers of foreign affairs and other experts to discuss pressing issues in science diplomacy.
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