MISSION

IIASA provides insights and guidance to policy makers by finding solutions to global and universal problems through applied systems analysis to help improve human and social wellbeing and to protect the environment.

 

SCOPE

IIASA uses systems analysis to better understand, and develop responses to, issues that are too complex to be solved by a single country or academic discipline. For example climate change that has global implications and requires international cooperation to resolve, or issues of common concern to many countries that must be addressed at the national level, such as energy security, population aging, or sustainable development. IIASA’s three areas of research focus are: energy and climate change; food and water; and poverty and equity.

 

TASKS

• Systems analysis: IIASA develops and refines integrated models that project trends in areas as diverse as climate change, energy, population and education, land use and water
• Science-based insights: These projections and analysis provide valuable insights to decision makers and are developed in an international, interdisciplinary and politically independent environment
• Capacity-building: IIASA hosts approximately 50 advanced level PhD students annually as part of its Young Scientists Summer Program, as well as numerous international training workshops, conferences and symposia

 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• IIASA is a major contributor to, and coordinator of, the Global Energy Assessment — the most comprehensive and integrated analysis of the global energy system ever undertaken
• IIASA research is significant in the development of comprehensive, integrated scenarios of greehhouse gas emissions for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• The IIASA GAINS (Greenhouse gas — Air pollution Interactions and Synergies) model allows countries to compare the costs and benefits of GHG emissions reduction strategies