Founded in 1972, IIASA is an international scientific institute that conducts policy-oriented research into problems that are too large or too complex to be solved by a single country or academic discipline. Problems like climate change that have a global reach and can be resolved only by international cooperative action. Or problems of common concern to many countries that need to be addressed at both the national and international level, such as energy security, population aging, and sustainable development. Funded by scientific institutions in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Africa, IIASA is independent and unconstrained by political or national self-interest.
IIASA’s mission is to provide insights and guidance to policymakers worldwide by finding solutions to global and universal problems through applied systems analysis in order to improve human and social wellbeing and protect the environment.
Research
IIASA’s mission is to provide insight and guidance to policymakers worldwide by finding solutions to global and universal problems through applied systems analysis in order to improve human and social wellbeing and to protect the environment. Systems analysis approaches are used by scientists to explore multiple complex global systems – for example, climate change, agriculture, atmosphere, and population dynamics – and most significantly the ways in which they interact.
IIASA has a long and successful history of developing systems-based integrated solutions and policy advice for some of the world’s most pressing problems, including energy resources, climate change, environmental pollution, population demographics, land use and sustainable development. IIASA is both international, with active collaborations in over 60 countries, and politically independent, with its governance and core funding provided by prestigious scientific institutions across its National Member Organizations (NMOs) in 22 countries, which together represent over 60% of the global population.
IIASA’s research is strategically focused in three main areas:
Energy & Climate Change – focuses on the interactions between energy production, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, climate change, and the application and diffusion of new technologies.
Food & Water – covering a broad scope of disciplines from biology to Earth science, aims to balance the maintenance of biodiversity with the needs of agriculture and food security.
Poverty & Equity – analyzes the human side of development, ranging from how poor populations can best adapt to climate change to the impact of aging populations on developed societies.
