Austria
Since the creation of IIASA, the Austrian Government has provided the historic Schloss Laxenburg as the home of the Institute. The Austrian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1847and serving as botha home for the science community and a support organisation of modern research institutions,is the IIASA National Member Organization (NMO).The responsibilities of IIASA membership are handled by the Austrian IIASA-Commission, chaired by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Glatzel and including representatives of Austrian research institutions and government agencies with interests in IIASA’s work.Prof. Dr. Glatzel represents Austria on the IIASA Governing Council, serving as Chair of the Finance Committee and a Member of the Executive Committee.
Mag. Marie-Therese Pitner, of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, is NMO Secretary for the Austrian IIASA-Commission.
Key Relationships and Collaborations
IIASA provides networks for Austrian organizations and the international research and policy community. Following are some of the national and international organizations, based in Austria, that IIASA collaborates with.
- Austrian Academy of Sciences
- Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research
- Austrian Climate Research Program
- Austrian Energy Agency
- Austrian Development Agency
- Austrian Institute of Technology
- Austrian Science Fund
- United Nations Agencies based in Vienna (UNIDO, IAEA, CTBTO)
- Universities: Vienna, Klagenfurt, Graz, BOKU
- Vienna Institute of Demography
Select Research Highlights
Following is a selection of research highlights relating to IIASA and Austria. For more information about these collaborations please read the attached IIASA-Austria NMO country profile.
Energy and climate change research:
- IIASA collaborates in various ways with Austria in the areas of energy and climate change. A current example of this is the Global Energy Assessment (GEA). Austrian agencies participating in the GEA include the Austrian Development Agency, the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, UNIDO, and the IAEA. IIASA Deputy Director and Vienna University of Technology's, Professor Nebojsa Nakicenovic, is a Member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Technical Group on Sustainable Energy for All, which is Chaired by Vienna-based, UNIDO Director General, Kandeh Yumkellah. IIASA is also a founding member of the Vienna Energy Club.
- Nine IIASA scientists, including five Austrian nationals, are among the current list of Lead Authors and Review Editors selected to contribute to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report and Synthesis Report.
Forestry and land management:
- The IIASA coordinated EU Climate Change-Terrestrial Adaptation & Mitigation in Europe (CC-TAME) is assessing the impacts of agricultural, climate, energy, forestry and other associated land-use policies and the resulting feed-backs on the climate system in the European Union. BOKU University and Joanneum Research Company, based in Graz, are partners of the international consortium.
- The Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research (BMWF) supports the Global Earth Observation – Benefit Estimation: Now, Next and Emerging (GEO-BENE), led by IIASA. GEO-BENE is developing tools to assess societal benefits of the Group on Earth Observation, in the domains of: disasters, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity.
- IIASA in collaboration with Joanneum Research and other partners completed the European Union commissioned Refuel project, which has produced an EU road map for biofuels in transport.
Air quality and GHG mitigation:
- IIASA has a long-term relationship with Austria through our air quality research. Austrian national and IIASA lead researcher, Markus Amann, is a member of the Clean Air Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and leader of the IIASA Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Control Synergies (GAINS) team.
Ecological research:
- Karl Sigmund, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Vienna, member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and member of the European Academy of Sciences, is a long-term IIASA research scholar in area of game theory and the modeling of animal behavior, and the use of mathematical models in ecology and population dynamics. Prof. Sigmund was Austrian of the year (research) in 2006. Most recently he was awarded the Preis der Stadt Wien für Naturwissenschaften, and the Wissenschaftspreise 2011 des Landes Niederösterreich vergeben.
Population studies:
- IIASA collaborates extensively with the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Leader of IIASA’s World Population Program, Austrian national Wolfgang Lutz, is the Director of the VID and Founding Director of the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital. Lutz was the 2010 recipient of the Wittgenstein Award – the ‘Austro Nobel’ of Austrian Science. Prof. Lutz was elected to the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Humanities) as a full member in 2012.
Risk and adaptation:
- IIASA and the Austrian Geological Survey are collaborating on an EU funded project, SafeLand, along with 13 fellow partners. SafeLand will develop generic quantitative risk assessment and management tools and strategies for landslides at local, regional, European and societal scales.
Capacity Building
IIASA’s annual Young Scientists Summer Program (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 Austrian participant in 1977, a total of 89 Austrians have completed the YSSP.
Special Awards
In 2009, YSSP candidate Christian Hilbe, from the biomathematics group at the University of Vienna, received the Mikhalevich Award for his work on public-goods games under time pressure in IIASA’s Evolution and Ecology Program.
IIASA scientists regularly lecture at Austrian Universities and public events, several holding part-time professorships or associate professorships in local Universities.More information and how to apply for the YSSP or IIASA's postdoctoral program.