ASA Program aims to discover, develop, and deploy new, more effective, and efficient ways of infusing systems science into policy and decision making for sustainable development.
Explore options to engage with ASA
The Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Program welcomes expressions of interest from researchers at all career stages who wish to collaborate with us in advancing data, methods, and models as well as inter- and trans-disciplinary research to tackle the complexity of pressing sustainability challenges. More information on options to engage with ASA.
Despite numerous success stories, many policies and decisions that currently aim to deal with global change are not sufficiently informed by cutting-edge science. Among the major barriers that prevent the effective input of science into policy are perceived shortfalls in agility, realism, and relevance of the current generation of methods and models from the standpoint of end users. To address these barriers, ASA strives to advance agile, realistic, and relevant systems analytical tools and methods, and facilitate a shared understanding of the capabilities and limits of these tools and methods with end users. Consequently, ASA’s efforts span the full range, from advancing research methods and tools of systems analysis to innovating at the interface between policy- and decision making, as well as with society at large.
ASA Program’s major objectives are:
- To innovate approaches and tools to analyze increasingly systemic, social-ecological risks and support decisions aimed at enhancing resilience and facilitating sustainability transitions and transformations.
- To further the capacity of agile, on-demand systems analysis underpinned by a suite of modeling frameworks of appropriate complexity.
- To mobilize multiple sources of data and the power of data science to diagnose and identify solutions to reduce vulnerabilities and risks.
- To advance feasible and effective ways of engagement with policymakers, the private sector, and citizens.
- To enhance trust and shared understanding of systems analysis methods and tools, in particular, through open science.
Projects
Open-Earth-Monitor Cyberinfrastructure (OEMC)
Transformations within Reach (TwR-II)
Staff
Michael Obersteiner
Principal Research Scholar (EM)
Dominik Weckmüller
Guest Researcher (NODES)
Mats Danielson
Guest Senior Research Scholar (CAT)
Dahlia Domian
Contracts and Grants Officer (ASA, NODES, GM)
News
10 November 2026
New UN report warns of widening climate adaptation gap and increasing losses and damages
IIASA researchers contributed to the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2026, which warns that climate adaptation efforts and financing are failing to keep pace with accelerating climate impacts, leaving vulnerable countries increasingly exposed to losses and damages.
10 November 2026
Science for a more resilient Europe: Reinhard Mechler appointed to European Commission disaster preparedness advisory group
IIASA researcher Reinhard Mechler has been appointed as one of six scientific experts to the European Commission's newly established PreparEU Advisory Group, which aims to strengthen Europe's preparedness and resilience in the face of growing disaster risks, extreme weather events, and emerging threats.
09 November 2026
From Barbados to London: Advancing science diplomacy and international cooperation
IIASA Science Diplomacy Director and Head of Communications and External Relations Susie Kitchens led a delegation to Barbados to explore opportunities for scientific collaboration in support of the country's economic transformation ambitions. The visit was followed by high-level engagements in London aimed at strengthening international research partnerships and IIASA's ties with UK institutions.
Events
Barcelona, Spain
ENFORCE Annual Project Meeting
Residence Palace, Brussels, Belgium
Final LAMASUS Conference
Focus
24 July 2026
Citizen science and the politics of measuring sustainability
How we measure sustainability matters. In a new World View article published in Nature Sustainability, IIASA researcher Dilek Fraisl explores why citizen science and other participatory approaches should play a greater role in developing the indicators and methodologies that guide international action on climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development.
21 July 2026
One climate forecast, many online conversations
What happens when an El Niño forecast reaches social media? Drawing on two recent studies, IIASA researchers Dmitry Erokhin and Nadejda Komendantova explore how the same climate information is discussed differently across online platforms and why those differences matter for climate communication and resilience.
Publications
Lakmayer, S. & Danielson, M. (2027). Comparing Weight Aggregation Strategies in Group Decision Analysis. In: Advances and Trends in Artificial Intelligence. Theory and Applications. Eds. Fujita, H., Selamat, A., Ghazali, M., & Ali, M., pp. 358-371 Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. ISBN 978-981-92-2888-1 10.1007/978-981-92-2888-1_29.
Lint, K. & Yosipof, A. (2027). Benchmarking Textual and Metadata Features Against Transformer-Based Embeddings for Crowdfunding Technology Success Prediction. In: Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations. AIAI 2026. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. Eds. Maglogiannis, I., Iliadis, L., Zervakis, M., & Papaleonidas, A., pp. 125-138 Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. ISBN 978-3-032-30809-2 10.1007/978-3-032-30809-2_9.
Park, C. (2027). Beyond error reduction: Dimensional analysis reveals qualitative differences in motor expertise. Information Processing & Management 64 (1) e104951. 10.1016/j.ipm.2026.104951.
Lakmayer, S. & Danielson, M. (2027). Surrogate Weights in Group MCDM Decisions. In: Perspectives on Group Decision and Negotiation: Theory, Technology, and Practice. Eds. Wachowicz, T., Morais, D.C., & Ke, G.Y., pp. 91-104 Springer Cham. ISBN 978-3-032-29551-4