Kai Kornhuber receives Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award from EGU

Kai Kornhuber is a researcher guiding the extreme weather and climate dynamics research theme in the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program. A leading voice in this field, through his research, Kornhuber explores high-impact and compound extreme weather events, providing estimates of current and future climate risks under different pathways.

In recognition of his scientific achievements in the field of climate science, Kai Kornhuber has been awarded the Outstanding Early Career Scientist Awards of the Climate Past, Present, Future Division of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

The EGU is the leading European organization for Earth, planetary and space science, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in geoscience research. It facilitates dialogue and exchange of information between scientists, the media, policymakers, and the public and is recognized as a trusted source of impartial, evidence-based geoscience information.

"It is an incredible honor to receive this recognition of my work from the Climate Division of the European Geosciences Union," says Kornhuber. “I am deeply grateful to my mentors, collaborators, and the scientific community for their support and inspiration, which have been instrumental in shaping my work."

The award ceremony will take place during the EGU General Assembly, 27 April – 2 May 2025.

A distinguished expert in atmospheric dynamics, extreme weather, and climate impacts, Kornhuber has worked closely with the EGU and other international consortiums and organizations, having recently proposed and convened new, innovative EGU and AGU sessions on atmosphere dynamics, compound events, natural hazards and most recently on physical climate risks for the insurance sector under various climate scenarios bringing together scientists and actors from the private sector.

In terms of research work, Kornhuber’s track record includes over 50 highly-cited peer-reviewed articles published in leading journals. One of his major seminal contributions includes identifying global atmospheric patterns that can lead to simultaneous heat waves and risks to global food security. His most recent work points toward global hotspots for extreme heatwaves and quantifies their representation in climate models.

In addition to this work, Kornhuber mentors the next generation of scientists and practitioners in Complex Climate Risks as an Adjunct Assistant Professor for Climate at Columbia University in New York and an organizer of the bi-annual Como Training School on Compound Extremes.

He is also co-chairing the Risk Knowledge Action Network, a joint initiative of World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), Future Earth, and Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR). In addition to those roles, he is a founding member of the Earth Network on “Sustainable and Resilient Living in an Era of Increasing Disasters” at the Columbia Climate School. He works with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), leading a project focused on the dynamics of extreme heat events.