International scientific collaboration brings people together, but also carries hidden costs. Jack Vahnberg and Steffen Lohrey share their experiences living in short-term rentals in Vienna during the 2025 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP). From wasted household items and energy inefficiency to the impact on urban structures and housing affordability, they explore how the realities of temporary stays can conflict with the very sustainability goals their research aims to promote.
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.
Fast and decisive mitigation of methane emissions remains one of the few options the world still has to limit global warming in the next few decades. Today, mid-way through COP30, high-level representatives at the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) Ministerial released the Global Methane Status Report 2025, a comprehensive assessment of global progress and remaining gaps in efforts to cut methane. The report’s findings are underpinned by analyses conducted by IIASA researchers.
In a recent Tagesspiegel feature exploring the meaning of “I don’t have another land,” IIASA Director-General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber offers a powerful reminder that humanity also has no “second planet.” His contribution links historical memory with the urgent global challenge of protecting Earth’s life-support systems.
Itza Olguin Zuniga
Guest Researcher (MDM)
Against the backdrop of negotiations at COP30 in Belém, a group of leading climate scientists has released the Búzios Scientific Statement, offering a clear assessment of the world’s remaining options to return to 1.5°C of warming by the end of the century. The statement reflects growing recognition that a temporary overshoot of 1.5°C is now unavoidable, while also showing that pathways back to safer temperature levels remain open if action accelerates quickly.
IIASA and partners are advancing research on how interconnected global crises can be transformed into opportunities for resilience and sustainable development. Drawing on insights from a new International Journal of Disaster Risk Science special issue, IIASA researchers working at the coalface of this topic highlight innovative frameworks and tools for understanding systemic risks and guiding more integrated, science-informed policymaking.
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.
The final stakeholder workshop of the Austria Fire Futures (AFF) project gathered leading experts, policymakers, foresters, firefighters, and tourism representatives on October 28, 2025, at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg to discuss Austria’s growing wildfire risks and the way forward toward climate resilience.
IIASA is proud to announce that 13 researchers associated with the Institute, including its Director General, Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber, have again been recognized in the latest Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers™ list released this week.
Gerald Steindlegger
Senior Research Scholar and Senior Advisor to the program (AFE)
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 Population and Just Societies Program Director, Anne Goujon, has been elected Secretary-General and Treasurer of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the world’s leading association of population scientists.
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have officially launched a "Feasibility Study on Carbon Farming Solutions in Greater Central Asia", marking a new milestone in the region’s efforts toward sustainable land management and climate-resilient development.
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 recently hosted an exploratory workshop titled, Together for water: Fostering collaboration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The two-day event brought together around 50 representatives from international organizations, civil society organizations, research institutions, and diplomatic missions to explore new pathways for transboundary collaboration on water challenges across the region.