Russian Federation

In October 1972 representatives of the Soviet Union, United States, and 10 other countries from the Eastern and Western blocs met in London to sign the charter establishing IIASA. Signatory to the Charter for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was Dr. J. M. Gvishiani of the Academy of Sciences.

The Soviet Union has remained a member of IIASA throughout its history and following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation was formally recognized.The Russian Academy of Sciences is the organization representing the Russian Federation’s membership of IIASA.  

Council Member for Russia is Academician Alexei Gvishiani Director, Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Academician Gvishiani is also Chair of the Program Committee and Member of the Executive Committee of IIASA.

The NMO Chair for Russia is Academician Vladimir Kotlyakov, from the Institute of Geography Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. While the NMO Secretary for Russia is Dr. Tatiana E. Khromova Secretary General, Institute of Geography Russian Academy of Sciences.  

Key relationships and collaborators

IIASA collaborates with a broad range of organizations in the Russian Federation including the following:

• Russian Academy of Sciences
• The Geophysical Center of RAS 
• Moscow State University, Russia
• Far East Forestry Research Institute, Khabarovsk
• Federal Agency of Forest Management, Moscow
• Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Moscow
• Institute for Energy and Finance, Moscow
• Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics, Ekaterniburg
• Polar Research Institute, Murmansk
• Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk
• Steklov Mathematical Institute, Moscow
• St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg
• Vladimir State University, Vladimir  

Select Research Highlights

Following is a selection of research highlights relating to IIASA and the Russian Federation.

Forestry and land management

• With the Russian Federal Forest Service, IIASA completed an inventory and analysis of forests and forest management in Russia. The information, published in CD format is a valuable resource to authorities in the development of sustainable forest management policies in Russia. In 2007 50% of the world’s coniferous forests were located in Russia.
• The Russian Federal Forest Service has recommended that models and patterns, published by IIASA and the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2009, on the growth and productivity of Northern Eurasian forests, be adopted as guidelines and standards for forest management across Russia.
• IIASA completed a terrestrial full carbon account for Russia in 2010, including a full revision of uncertainty estimates and their role in a bottom-up/top/down accounting approach. 
• In a paper published in Science (2011) coauthored by Prof. Anatoly Shvidenko, the carbon uptake of boreal, temperate and tropical forests was, for the first time, evaluated and shows that forests have removed about one-third of fossil fuel emissions for the period 1990-2007. The study found that carbon uptake in tropical forests not affected by human activity was more than a billion tons per year, and a further 1.6 billion tons of carbon is absorbed by the regrowing of tropical forests. Boreal forests, which predominate in Russia and Canada, took up about 500 million tons of carbon annually.
• Long-term IIASA researcher Prof. Anatoly Shvidenko was, in 2009, awarded the Honorary Medal of Forestry Society by the Russian Union of Foresters. The Medal, instituted by the Forestry Society of the Russian Empire in the mid 1800’s, honors Prof. Shvidenko’s sustained contributions to the Russian and global forest sector.

Energy and Climate Change

• In 2009 IIASA completed an analysis of the cost and benefits of Russia’s participation in the Kyoto Protocol project. This project was initiated by IIASA in 2003, before the Russian Federation decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol (KP). The project was motivated by Russia’s important role in the global emission reduction process. The project provided a numerical and reproducible basis for the decision by estimating the economic consequences of Russia being bound by the limits stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol.
  
• Russia is considered in the development and application of research on air pollution and climate impacts. This work draws on the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Control Synergies (GAINS) model developed by IIASA. The GAINS model estimates emissions, mitigation potentials and costs for the major air pollutants and for the six greenhouse gases included in the Kyoto Protocol. Its European implementation covers 43 countries in Europe including Russia. A dedicated GAINS RUSSIA online module has been developed that aims to inform resource planning, technology development and deployment, urban planning, land use, as well as restructuring existing tax and incentive schemes.
• Russia contributes to the Global Energy Assessment (GEA). The GEA, to be published in mid 2012, is a major initiative seeking to redefine the global energy policy agenda. The GEA aims to identify solutions for ameliorating existing and emerging threats associated with major global energy challenges, such as providing energy services for poverty alleviation and development, maintaining energy security and mitigating local, regional and global environmental impacts. Prof. Yuri Kononov from the RAS is a member of the GEA Organizing Committee and Secretariat.

Population research

• Russia is considered in various population projections generated by IIASA including the 2010 European Demographic Data Sheet developed with the Vienna Institute of Demography. The study projects that the population of Russia will decrease from 141.9 million in 2009 to 133 million by 2030. Life expectancy for Russian males in 2008 is 61.8 and females 74.2.  The median age of the population in 2009 was 37.7, while in 2030 this is projected to rise to 43.3. In 2009 13.3% of the population are 65 years of age or older, by 2030 this is projected to decline to 19.1%.
  

Capacity Building

Apart from the many training workshops hosted by IIASA and our ‘in-country’ partners, IIASA’s primary capacity building activities are the postdoctoral program and the annual Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP). The YSSP offers advanced level PhD candidates the opportunity to work with IIASA scientists over a 3-month period, with the explicit aim of refining or extending their research skills in the area of systems analysis. Since the first Soviet/Russian participant in 1977, 190 Russian students have completed the YSSP.

The Petr Aven Fellowship

In 2011 IIASA was fortunate to be the recipient of a Fellowship established by former YSSP participant, Petr Aven (YSSP 1977). The Petr Aven Fellowship offers an advanced graduate student from Russia, or a developing country that is not a member of IIASA, the opportunity to participate in the YSSP.  

In 2011 the inaugural Petr Aven Fellowship was awarded to Anastasia Emelyanova from Pomor State University, Russia. Anastasia’s studies focused on the rapidly aging population of circumpolar Russia. While much research has been carried out on Russian adults little research has focused on the Russian Arctic population, where conditions differ greatly from other parts of Russia. Her results indicate that life expectancy for both men and women is improving in the northern regions, posing challenges for Russian policies on aging and wellbeing of the elderly.

Special Awards

Russian students have also been the recipients of the YSSP Peccei and Mikhalevich Awards. The awards, which take the form of a scholarship, are based on the quality, originality and relevance of the recipient’s research as well as the effectiveness of the chosen approach. Consideration is also given to the candidates' overall professional contribution to the summer program.

In 2006 the Mikhalevich Scholarship was awarded to Andrey Krasovskii of Russia for his research in Dynamic Systems.  In 2001 the Mikhalevich Scholarship went to Elena Moltchanova of Russia (Forestry) with an Honorable Mention to Alexander Mahura of Russia (Radiation Safety of the Biosphere).

In 1994 the Peccei Scholarship was awarded to Alexander Tarasyev of Russia (Dynamic Systems) and in 1992 to Andrei Ganopolski of Russia (Environmental Change and Development).

Academicians at IIASA

Prof. Anatoly Shvidenko is an Academician of the UN International Informatization Academy, Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Arkady  Kryazhimskiy is an Academician of the Mathematical Sciences Division, Russian Academy of Sciences since 2006. IIASA’s Sergey Aseev was elected as a Corresponding Member to the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2008. 

Last edited: 21 December 2012