How can the transition process to a low-carbon society be managed and modelled?
Special emphasis will be devoted to improving the understanding of
* consumer’s demand preferences for housing, mobility and human diets, and
* how policy interactions could contribute to a decoupling of perceived welfare and resource consumption.
Which policy decisions need to be taken in the near future in order not to compromise the attainability of the long-term climate stabilization target? This employs

* optimization routines e.g. least-cost, under environmental constraints,
* a novel ‘attainability domain’ methodology to identify consistency conditions for meeting very ambitious mitigation targets in the future.

3. Aerosols and near-term climate change: Synergies and trade-offs of emission controls.

Specific project suggestions:

In particular, we invite applications for the following projects:

Technology- or sector-specific analysis notably for

Feedback between technological implementation, demand and consumer behaviour, especially for housing (heating & cooling demand), traffic and mobility, food and diet.
Emissions scenarios for
o International shipping
o International aviation
o Off-road machinery (in Europe).
Vehicle stock turn-over modelling: Sensitivity analysis for technology diffusion.
Potential for mitigating transport emissions through changes in mobility behaviour.
Costs and potentials for renewable energy.
Energy efficiency in the industry and power sectors.
Emissions from HFCs, PFCs and SF6, and strategies for mitigating HFC emissions from refrigeration and the air conditioning sector.
Modeling PFC emissions from the semiconductor and LCD industries.
Mitigation potential and costs for HFCs, PFCs and SF6 emissions.
Representation of Combined Heat and Power Plants.
Co-benefits in controlling VOCs and O₃.

Analysis is particularly invited for the following countries:

Brazil, China, India, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South-east Asia, South Africa, Turkey.

Conceptual analysis is invited for:

Understanding and using results from Global Chemistry Models;
Analyzing different concepts for cost accounting; comparing results for cost-effectiveness between different models
Analysis of climate mitigation pledges; defining comparable mitigation effort
Uncertainty and robustness analysis of mitigation strategies

Database management is a fundamental basis for our activity. We invite projects on

Checks for completeness, consistency and robustness
Updating and adapting input and output routines
System administration, user and version management

This list of topics is neither complete nor exclusive and will be updated in the course of time. In addition, we are always interested in and open for original research suggestions of your choice.

Please be aware that the number of grants is limited and competition is high. Preference will be given on the grounds of scientific excellence and the quality of the research proposal.

Further general details about the YSSP and information on submitting an application are available at IIASA's YSSP web pages. Candidates are encouraged to contact the MAG program representative, Jens Borken-Kleefeld at an early stage in their application.

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Last edited: 03 January 2013