Four exceptional young scientists from the 2021 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) have been recognized as YSSP award finalists. Two will receive funding to continue their research projects at IIASA and two candidates have been given Honorable Mentions for outstanding effort.

IIASA has announced the winners of the annual Peccei and Mikhalevich awards for Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) participants. These awards will enable two participants from the 2021 YSSP to return to the institute for an additional three months to continue their research projects.

The awards are given annually for exceptional papers from the previous year’s YSSP cohort. Candidates are nominated by the program director of the relevant IIASA research program and assessed by a committee comprised of one member from each research program. Each candidate’s paper is evaluated based on its quality, originality, and relevance. The final decision is made by IIASA Director General Albert van Jaarsveld.

The Peccei award is named in honor of IIASA alumnus Aurelio Peccei and recognizes policy-related research, while the Mikhalevich award, named for IIASA alumnus Vladimir S. Mikhalevich, is aimed at mathematically and methodologically oriented research.

The 2021 YSSP Peccei and Mikhalevich Award Winners

siddarth

Siddarth Joshi from the University of Cork, Ireland has won the Mikhalevich Award for his study: “Role of Rooftop Solar Photovoltaics in Global Energy Transitions”

IIASA program: Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE), 

Supervisors: Behnam Zakeri, Alessio Mastrucci, Volker Krey

scott

Scott Spillias from the University of Queensland, Australia has won the Peccei Award for his study: “The Global Benefits of Large-Scale Seaweed Farming”

IIASA program: Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR)

Supervisors: Hugo Valin, Miroslav Batka, Petr Havlik

Honorable Mentions

IIASA

An honorable mention goes to Yingjie Li from Michigan State University, USA, for his study on: “International socio-environmental spillover effects on achieving the national SDGs”

IIASA program: Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA)

Supervisors: Brian Fath, Petr Havlik

camille

An honorable mention goes to Camille Belmin from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany, for her study on: “Introducing the energy-fertility nexus in population projections: can universal access to modern energy lead to energy savings?”

IIASA program: Population and Just Societies (POPJUS), Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE)

Supervisors: Guillaume Marois, Shonali Pachauri

News

Electricity generation

18 May 2026

Full fossil fuel phase-out by 2050 would require up to 80% more electricity generation

New research by an international team of scientists finds that fully phasing out fossil fuels worldwide by 2050 would require global electricity generation to expand by roughly 60 to 80% beyond the levels projected in conventional 1.5°C climate pathways. The study also shows that eliminating fossil fuels could significantly reduce dependence on CO2 removal technologies and underground carbon storage.
YSSP award

15 January 2026

Winners of the 2025 Young Scientists Summer Program Awards Announced

IIASA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) Awards in recognition of outstanding research conducted during the program.
Group photo of the IIASA and PKU delegations

04 December 2025

Strengthening research collaboration with Peking University

Two recent visits by senior representatives of Peking University (PKU) to IIASA have reaffirmed and expanded the long-standing partnership between the institutions, highlighting new opportunities for joint research, academic training, and policy-relevant collaboration in environment, population, and systems sciences.