The Peccei Award was established in 1984 in recognition of Dr. Aurelio Peccei's contribution to the understanding of global problems and his efforts to promote multi-national collaborative research.
The Mikhalevich Award was established in 1995 following the death of Academician Vladimir S. Mikhalevich, a pioneer in cybernetics and mathematical problems, who at that time was Chairman of the IIASA Council.
The selection procedure
The following criteria will be taken into account by external reviewers and the Awards Selection Committee when reviewing the papers:
Quality of the research: For example, is the problem/issue clearly framed and described?; the methodology well executed?; the study grounded in the literature?; the derived conclusions justifiable?
Originality of the research: For example, is the problem framed in a unique way?; the chosen methodology/approach innovative?
Effectiveness of the approach: For example, are the research objectives effectively met?, the problem/ issue effectively approached/solved?; the research appropriately interdisciplinary?
Relevance/impact of the research: For example, does the study advance science or methodology?; is it policy relevant?
Memos from supervisors supporting their candidate: The Selection Committee is usually made up of IIASA director, the YSSP dean, and scientific representatives from IIASA programs.
Dr. Aurelio Peccei
Dr. Aurelio Peccei (1908-1984), perhaps best known as the President of the Club of Rome, enjoyed a distinguished career in industry, conservation, and international affairs. His hallmark was a humanistic approach to the problems confronting the modern world, be they economic, technological, managerial, or political.
Dr. Peccei was a consistent and devoted friend of IIASA, a member of the small group of individuals who inspired the original concept of the Institute and contributed actively to its realization. In his later years, his overwhelming concern was the challenge of finding creative opportunities for young people to influence a shared future. In 1984, the Peccei Award was established in an effort to meet this charge, as well as to recognize Peccei's contribution to multinational collaborative research.
Academician Vladimir S. Mikhalevich
Academician Vladimir S. Mikhalevich (1930-1994) was the Council Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences at the time of his death. He was associated with the Institute for many years, in a scientific capacity as a member of the System and Decision Sciences Advisory Committee, and administratively, as Chairman of the Governing Council from 1987 to 1992.
Perhaps less known, but equally important, was Academician Mikhalevich's role in the academic world of the former Soviet Union. At a time when it was not popular, he ventured into cybernetics and employed computers for mathematical problems. He not only conducted his own pioneer work, but unfailingly supported young researchers who came to work with him even when they followed new directions of enquiry, which diverged from his own.
2020 Winners
Peccei Award:
Setu Pelz from the Europa Universität Flensburg, Germany and Johns Hopkins University, USA has won the Peccei Award for his study: “Impacts of grid electricity access on rural non-farm entrepreneurship and employment in Ethiopia and Nigeria”.
IIASA program: Energy (ENE), Transitions to New Technologies (TNT)
IIASA supervisor: Shonali Pachauri
Mikhalevich Award:
Bernardo Buarque from University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland, won the Mikhalevich Award for his study: “Evolving the knowledge space: Towards a selection dynamics model of patent classes”
IIASA program: Advanced Systems Analysis (ASA), Evolution and Ecology (EEP)
IIASA supervisors: Gergely Boza, Gerald Silverberg
Honorable mentions:
An honorable mention goes to Janet Molina Maturano from Ghent University, Belgium, for her study on: “Responsible scaling of citizen science projects for farmers: Developing a SDGs-guided toolkit.”
IIASA program: Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM)
IIASA supervisors: JC Laso Bayas, Steffen Fritz
An honorable mention goes to Simon Plakolb from the Technical University and the University of Graz in Austria, for his study on: “Using the Future State Maximization paradigm to analyze the emergence of socially sub-optimal mobility behavior”.
IIASA program: Advanced Systems Analysis (ASA)
IIASA supervisor: Nikita Strelkovskii
