Search

IIASA researcher Roman Hoffmann has been honored with two prestigious awards and elected as a member of the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, recognizing his contributions to climate change research and environmental social sciences.

The OJEong Resilience Institute at Korea University (OJERI) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) successfully held the OJERI–IIASA Symposium 2025 on April 28–29 at IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria. With the theme “Forest Fire and Water-Land Management under the Carbon (Emission) Cycle”, the symposium aimed to continue the strong partnership between IIASA and OJERI@KU in advancing cross-disciplinary research for sustainable forest and land-water management.

A new climate initiative launched in Vorarlberg, Austria, aims to plant 50 trees for every child born in the region. The initiative, which will run under the patronage of IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber, was introduced on 3 April in Rankweil.

IIASA contributed to the Austrian Bundesländerdialog — a forum bringing together the federal government, representatives of different states, and other interested institutions to discuss recent developments in research, technology, and innovation. It provided an important platform to increase IIASA’s visibility in the Austrian federal states and strengthen connections with key stakeholders in research and innovation.

IIASA, as a project partner, developed and applied a co-creation methodology to identify the key issues and requirements of a drought climate risk service for Austria, together with stakeholders from relevant disciplines. IIASA also led the development of a handbook on the co-creation methodology, documenting the lessons learned and recommendations for future projects beyond the scope of the project.  

The Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna) will start Master's Programme "Global Demography" at the University of Vienna with its fifth cohort of students in October 2025.

Researchers from the IIASA Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability (NODES) Research Group are part of the newly launched RIECS-Concept (Towards A Pan-European Research Infrastructure for Excellent Citizen Science), a project designed to develop a conceptual framework for a pan-European citizen science research infrastructure. The initiative aims to enhance the role of citizen science in data collection, validation, and policy engagement, ensuring long-term sustainability and broader participation in scientific research across Europe.

IIASA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) Awards in recognition of outstanding research conducted during the program.

The FRAMEwork project has unveiled its updated knowledge and action platform, Recodo, enhancing its features and design to better serve stakeholders in agrobiodiversity. Developed by researchers in the IIASA Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group and other project partners, Recodo connects and empowers diverse actors and audiences, including Farmer Clusters and other agrobiodiversity stakeholders.

The MEDiate project is designed to help policymakers in decisions on natural disaster risk reduction. This year’s general assembly was held on 24 and 25 October. During this event, IIASA’s CAT team in the project held a serious-game workshop for finding sustainable solutions to natural hazard risk reduction. The workshop guided the participants trough silent negotiation to find a risk reduction solution for city-wide disaster scenarios.

Over the past decades, researchers have revealed different dimensions of natural disaster risk with great dedication. This diversity in risk dimensions can cause conflict of opinions and interests and calls for a collaborative approach to finding the solution. This year’s Disaster Research Days focused on disaster risk reduction and invited IIASA’s CAT research group leader, Nadejda Komendantova, to share the approach they developed in the MEDiate project.

Following his keynote address at the Austrian Wind Energy Association (AWES), IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber spoke to the industry magazine Windenergie about why we need to step up current climate policy and what climate protection has to do with patriotism.

In the light of new technologies and their serious impact on societies and the environment, and in the rise of global changes in natural hazards, the need for cooperation and shared understanding for shaping the future of disaster risk reduction has become clearer than ever. This year’s Disaster Research Days events are more focused on this goal, and IIASA's Cooperation and Transformative Governance Research Group leader, Nadejda Komendantova, was invited to share her innovative insights.

Science meets art: On 14 October at 19:30 CET, the future generation (born in 2050 and 25 years old) will visit the Odeon Theatre in Vienna to understand what people will know, do, fear, hope and dream in 2025.  

The Yidan Prize Foundation published a captivating short documentary on IIASA Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Wolfgang Lutz, renowned statistician and demographer, whose groundbreaking work reveals how education drives human potential and wellbeing. Discover Lutz's insights and hear from his colleagues as they explore the profound impact of his research on shaping a better future for humanity.  

We are pleased to announce that well-known Austrian broadcast journalist, Nadja Hahn, will join IIASA as Media Relations and Communications Manager in the Communications and External Relations Department from 1 October 2024.

IIASA researchers are part of the ALFAwetlands project, which aims to map wetlands in the European Union and assess restoration measures to provide maximum benefits for climate and biodiversity. The project partners recently gathered for a Midterm Conference to review implementation progress, present and exchange current results, and discuss further plans.

When it comes to practical solutions, finding causal links is one of the holy grails in all disciplines of science. Although Granger-type causality doesn’t prove actual causality, it becomes a powerful tool for analyzing any system once it’s coupled with theoretical reasoning. Recent advances in wavelet analysis as a tool to unravel the patterns and coherence among different phenomena raise the question of whether such coherence can be used to indicate causality.

The first Vienna Climate Biennale started its 100 day long festival program in April. CircEUlar is among the scientific partners of the Biennale, providing content on the potential of circular economy strategies to combat climate change.

The Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) recently partnered with a local photovoltaic (PV) supplier to implement a 220 kWp system using nearly 500 PV panels. With construction now finished, the investment anticipates yielding financial returns over the next decade. This initiative not only presents a substantial opportunity to reduce the Institute’s greenhouse gas footprint but also provides economical energy savings potential.