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Thinking about applying for the 2026 IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP)? Want to learn more about the program and how to prepare a strong application? Join our two-hour YSSP Masterclass for the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Member Organization (SSARMO). It will offer participants comprehensive information about the 2026 YSSP program, including application procedures, practical guidance for developing competitive research proposals, opportunities to engage with IIASA program representatives through breakout sessions, and insights from SSARMO YSSP alumni.  

From Environmental and Earth Observation to Policy: Integrated Monitoring for Biodiversity and Climate

Africa is taking a leading role in shaping global dialogues by empowering researchers, institutions, and policymakers to influence decision-making and co-develop evidence, based solutions to shared challenges. At the heart of this effort lies systems analysis, a powerful approach for understanding and addressing the complex interconnections between food, energy, water, and climate systems.

End to Begin, a multidisciplinary theater play by IIASA alumna Gloria Benedikt, which addresses the state and future of the planet and how humans live on it, is returning to the Odeon Theater in Vienna from 26-29 January 2026 for a series of public and school performances.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) methods are becoming increasingly important in both science and society. In climate science - where complex biophysical and societal processes interact across diverse temporal and spatial scales, and datasets are often large, heterogenous and incomplete - AI and ML methods offer new powerful solutions.

Thinking about applying for the 2026 IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP)? Want to learn more about the program and how to prepare a strong application?  Join our YSSP Application Webinar for Europe and Asia to find out what the program offers and how to make your proposal stand out.

On Friday, 14 November, the UNDERPIN team will participate in the Expert Meeting on Economic Losses from Weather- and Climate-Related Extremes, hosted by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The event brings together researchers, policymakers, and data providers to discuss advances in tracking and harmonizing evidence on the economic impacts of climate extremes across Europe. With recent years marking record-high losses from climate-related disasters, the meeting aims to explore how improved indicators, data interoperability, and methodological transparency can better inform adaptation strategies, disaster risk reduction, and resilience investments.

IIASA Deputy Director General Karen Lips participates in the 2025 Global Research Council (GRC) Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Meeting and Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) Academic Symposium, held under the theme “From Regional Dialogue to Global Impact.” This annual gathering brings together research funders, policymakers, and scholars from across Africa and beyond to strengthen regional leadership in global research governance and collaboration.

Guest Research Scholar Vahideh Shirvani from the Cooperation and Transformative Governance (CAT) Research Group will present her project at the Urban Infrastructure Risk and Resilience Webinar. 

IIASA joins thousands of scientists, educators, and policymakers at the premier Earth and space science conference 15-19 December in New Orleans, Louisiana, to explore groundbreaking research, connect with global experts, and shape the future of our planet.

This seminar aims to deepen collaboration between IIASA and Comenius University, building on the Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this year, and strengthening engagement with the Institute's Slovak National Member Organization. Taking place while applications for the Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) are open, it offers students and faculty a timely opportunity to learn more about IIASA and explore pathways for involvement.

The emphasis of integrated disaster and risk research has shifted from topical analysis, such as dealing with disasters associated with natural hazards, technological accidents or environmental crises, to a comprehensive analysis of interconnected and mutually interactive risk sources and crises. This interaction has often been framed in the language of “polycrisis” indicating the potentially amplifying and cascading effects of each crisis from one domain to the next. At the same time, the literature on systemic risk also includes the effects of multiple, interacting risks on the functionality and survivability of entire systems such as climate stability, cybersecurity or energy production. New approaches such as foresight, integrated risk assessment, and adaptive management, are developed and applied to cope with this new challenge.

From 10 to 21 November 2025, Brazil will have the honor of hosting the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) where the world's experts come together to agree on the actions to address the climate crisis, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Co-organized by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and IIASA, this event marks the Austrian launch of the Human Development Report 2025 "A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of AI" with a keynote presentation by Yanchun Zhang, the UNDP Chief Statistician, followed by a dialogue session that will examine the transformative societal impact and implications for human agency stemming from the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Boreal forests - the vast green belt encircling the northern hemisphere - are undergoing rapid transformation. This webinar will explore new research on the changing dynamics of the boreal biome, what these shifts mean for global climate feedbacks, and how remote sensing helps us understand the future of one of Earth’s most important ecosystems.

The NaturaConnect project, co-coordinated by Piero Visconti (IIASA) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), is hosting a stakeholder engagement event in Brussels to advance strategic planning for the Trans-European Nature Network (TEN-N). Organised by project partners EUROPARC Federation and WWF Central and Eastern Europe, and taking place 20 – 21 January in Brussels, the event will bring together decision-makers from across Europe to explore and contribute perspectives on the planning, governance, and financing aspects of TEN-N implementation.

The NaturaConnect project team, co-coordinated by Piero Visconti (IIASA) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), is meeting in Leipzig, Germany from 2-5 December 2025.

As co-organizer of the symposium hosted by the Commission on the De-Fossilization and Carbon Neutrality of the European Energy Systems (DEE) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, IIASA's Dr. Thomas Schinko will open the event by highlighting the importance of a systemic and interdisciplinary view for a successful transformation of energy systems. Moreover, he will emphasize the necessity to foster justice, equity, and collaboration in shaping Europe’s path toward a carbon-neutral future.

Climate change research has been dominated by narratives of vulnerability and risk often overlooking the significant efforts made by human systems to build and sustain resilience.

IIASA and the College of Population Studies at Chulalongkorn University will hold an intensive training program in Bangkok that combines demographic methods, data analysis, and innovative tools for understanding population aging, education, and health.