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IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber visited Barbados at the end of May to deepen engagement with government, academic, diplomatic, and international partners and explore new opportunities for collaboration on resilience, innovation, and sustainable development for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

IIASA Science Diplomacy Director and Head of Communications and External Relations, Susie Kitchens, will deliver the keynote address at the upcoming conference on Regional Engagement in the Era of Responsible Internationalization in Higher Education, co-organized by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) and Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD) in Vienna.

In 2025, IIASA reinforced its role as a trusted actor in science diplomacy by deepening engagement with international  institutions and supporting research‑informed policy dialogue across global platforms.

As part of its mission, IIASA provides scientific guidance to policymakers by applying systems analysis to global challenges.

IIASA is excited to announce that Greece has joined the Institute effective from 1 June 2026 through the Academy of Athens, Greece’s national academy and the highest research establishment in the country.

A high-level delegation from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MoST) and representatives of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Austria visited IIASA at Schloss Laxenburg on 13 May 2026 for discussions on scientific cooperation, science diplomacy, and future collaboration.

Representatives from China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security visited Schloss Laxenburg in May 2026 for discussions on international research collaboration, scientific career development, and talent exchange.

IIASA has emerged as one of Austria’s standout research institutions in a new Elsevier report titled, Austria as a Science and Technology Nation, which benchmarks the country’s scientific performance in an international context.

The African Human Capital Data Sheet 2026: Past Trends, Skills, and Future Pathways presents new evidence on population trends by level of education, skills, and demographic transitions across the African continent.

IIASA Deputy Director General, Karen Lips, will participate in two international events focused on strengthening the role of systems approaches, open science, and research impact in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The events are connected with the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC), which will take place in in Bangkok, Thailand, from 18 to 22 May 2026.

IIASA Deputy Director General Karen Lips will participate in the OSCE conference “Anticipating technologies – for a safe and humane future” at CERN. The event will focus on dialogue, trust, and joint approaches to strengthening peace and security in an increasingly complex world, aligning with Switzerland’s work on the UN Security Council.

How can education unlock Africa’s future? At the 2026 Yidan Prize Conference in Dakar, IIASA research will showcase new evidence on skills, human capital, and development pathways, including insights from the African Human Capital Data Sheet 2026.

A high-level delegation led by Senator Hon. Jonathan Reid, Barbados' Minister of Innovation, Industry, Science, and Technology, visited Schloss Laxenburg for a bilateral exchange with IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber on applied systems science and its potential to inform transformative policy. 

IIASA is pleased to announce that Susie Kitchens will join the Institute as Science Diplomacy Director and Head of Communications and External Relations in May 2026. In this senior leadership role, she will guide IIASA’s global engagement strategy, expand international partnerships, and enhance the Institute’s visibility and impact at the science-policy-society interface.

IIASA researchers have been working with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), Stellenbosch University, and the African Centre for Clean Air, to provide financial and technical support to Uganda, through its National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), to develop the Uganda Sector Strategy for Organic Waste Management.

On Tuesday, 17 March 2026, IIASA had the privilege of hosting Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen at Schloss Laxenburg for a program focused on exchange, conversation, and engagement with the Institute’s research community. Austria is IIASA’s host country and one of its founding members, with its membership dating back to 1973.

The EU agri-food system is increasingly threatened by climate change while accounting for roughly one-third of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. A new report by the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, with contributions from IIASA researchers, warns that current policies are insufficient to address rising climate risks and meet EU climate targets.

The International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum (IVECF) 2026 will take place over two days from 9-10 April 2026, at the historic Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Co-organized by UNIDO, the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria, the Austrian Development Agency, and IIASA, in cooperation with other Vienna-based international organizations and partners, the IVECF 2026 will convene global leaders from  governments, international organizations, industry, academia, development partners and civil society, under the theme “Powering Prosperity, Security and Stability”.

IIASA Deputy Director General, Karen Lips, will participate in the First Ukrainian–European Science Diplomacy Forum that will take place in Vienna on Thursday, 12 March 2026. The event will bring together senior representatives from European and Ukrainian ministries, the European Commission, UNESCO, international research organizations, funding bodies, leading universities, and Ukrainian science diaspora networks.

IIASA welcomed H.E. Ambassador Nikolaus Marschik, Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs (BMEIA), for a high-level visit to Schloss Laxenburg on Friday, 20 February 2026.