Reasons for Giving

We love hearing from our donors about their reasons for giving.

Marina Fischer-Kowalski

Founder and long-term director of the Vienna-based Institute for Social Ecology, Professor Emerita at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna

IIASA Collaborator and committed YSSP Fund donor

I appreciate IIASA's YSSP program both for its openness and its quality. If it did not exist, I would often be at a loss how to advise talented young scientists from abroad asking me for a learning opportunity. We, as Institute for Social Ecology now at BOKU University, are constrained to academic teaching rhythms and lack the resources to offer such candidates an appropriate chance. So I am very happy to be able to forward them to YSSP and be sure this will be a rewarding experience for them.



Rostyslav Bun

Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics of Lviv Polytechnic National University

IIASA Alumnus and Collaborator, regular YSSP Fund donor

Several of the Ph.D. students I supervised at the Lviv Polytechnic National University between 2000 and 2013 were selected to participate in the YSSP at IIASA. For many of them, those three months turned out to be the best time of their lives. They had the unique opportunity to conduct intensive research under the supervision of the scientists who were true leaders in their disciplines worldwide. All this in Laxenburg’s enchanting setting, celebrating IIASA’s multinational and multicultural spirit. As their careers go by, their time at IIASA proved to be of utmost importance to their growth, both as people and as scholars.  

This wouldn’t have been possible without external financial support. My students could only make it with the generous sponsorship from Sweden, Austria and Ukraine. That’s when I decided that I would have my share in supporting IIASA’s Annual Fund to help those talented and ambitious young people have the same opportunities as their colleagues from richer countries. I feel privileged to be able to help the future generations of excellent researchers have a IIASA experience. Maybe in the future they will be in a position to give back as I do. 


Yuquan Zhang

Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics, Shanghai Jiaotong University

IIASA Alumnus 2014-2015, generous YSSP Fund donor

As a young scientist who grew up in China, the largest developing country, and later on had graduate education and early career development in the US, the largest developed country, I felt really fortunate and blessed that I had an “across-the-Pacific” experience. IIASA broadened my view of the globe. It provided me a precious opportunity to work together with colleagues from around the world, and perhaps more importantly, a dive into a multi-narrative environment where tradition and modernity meet and blend really well!

My heartfelt thanks to IIASA for allowing such a great opportunity to make a gift that really makes a difference! It is simply more than exciting and inspiring to realize that there shall be young scholars who will benefit from the donation and, as I believe, will have an unforgettable 3-month summer at IIASA!


Petr Aven

1977 YSSP Participant and IIASA Alumnus (1989-1991)

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Alfa Banking Group

Funder of the Petr Aven Fellowship

My involvement in the IIASA summer program was my first experience working with foreign scientists, who I found to be a rich source of new knowledge and expertise. Today, many years after my YSSP experience, I am still aware of the influence my participation in the program had on my life.


Janusz Cofala
1980 YSSP Participant

IIASA Senior Research Scholar, Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases

Regular YSSP Fund donor

YSSP is a flagship of IIASA, one of its most successful programs. I participated in the program 30 years ago, and it provided me the possibility to establish contacts with the best research teams in my discipline. I hope that through my donation a young researcher from a non-NMO developing country will get a similar opportunity as I did in the early stage of my professional career.


Valery Lesnykh

1986 YSSP Participant

Director, Center of Risk Analysis, Research Institute Gazprom

My reason for giving is very simple - The YSSP provided me with a platform for my research, as well as my doctorate dissertation. This was my first experience with international scientists, and I had many fruitful discussions, particularly in the area of energy and systems analysis.


Edward Rising
IIASA Alumnus, Human Settlements and Services Program 1982

Regular donor

Reason 1.  IIASA is one of the first candles that was lit, which I believe has helped to light our way to a more peaceful world.

Reason 2.  Where else could you hear a lectures by two Noble Prize winners in one week, and who would take questions from the audience?

Reason 1 is for the world. Reason 2 is for me.


(c) Sergiu Robu
Sergiu Robu
2005 YSSP Participant

Institute of Power Engineering, Academy of Sciences of Moldova

 YSSP Fund donor

My participation in 2005 YSSP Program was possible due to support from IIASA National Member Country funding from Germany. Moldova is not a member of IIASA yet, and I was the first scientist from the country to visit IIASA due to support from abroad. Now I feel it is my turn to help others. YSSP gives a possibility to study subjects that have a global impact, and these subjects are difficult to be covered by an individual country, especially a developing country.

Participation in YSSP Program has had a substantial impact on me personally. The Program gives the understanding on how to look globally at the problems while obtaining knowledge from the lectures of top scientists from around the world. Impact on my professional activities was also high. Following the YSSP, I was invited to participate as national expert in many international projects. One of them being the implementation of the Stockholm Convention in Moldova where I work as national expert using the GAINS Model developed by IIASA scientists. Due to this collaboration, I have been able to visit IIASA twice since my YSSP summer and continue to work with former YSSP participants from different years.

I wish the best to all IIASA staff, and of course to all YSSP participants!


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Last edited: 20 January 2020

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International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
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