Founded in 1972, IIASA is an international scientific institute that conducts policy-oriented research into problems that are too large or 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 national academies and research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, IIASA is independent and unconstrained by political or national self-interest. The Austrian Academy of Sciences is the National Member Organization representing Austria on IIASA’s Governing Council and contributing financially to the institute. Austria is the host country of IIASA.
The IIASA mission
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.
Over 300 mathematicians, social scientists, natural scientists, economists, and engineers from more than 50 countries carry out research at IIASA in Laxenburg, south of Vienna. These range from world-renowned scholars—four Nobel Prize laureates have worked at IIASA—to young scientists just embarking on their careers. In addition, research networks consisting of over 3,000 associated and visiting researchers collaborate with the institute, including collecting and processing local and regional data for integration into advanced scientific models developed at IIASA. It is through such scientific collaboration that IIASA is building bridges among countries.
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