This award provides support to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to carry out its responsibilities as the United States National Member Organization (NMO) of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). These responsibilities take two forms: participating in governance of the Institute through participation in the IIASA Council and direct interaction with the organization; and facilitating and encouraging U.S. interest in IIASA's activities. The Board on International Organizations (BISO) of the National Research Council (NRC) executes these responsibilities through theU.S. Committee for IIASA, chaired by Professor Simon Levin of Princeton.
IIASA was established in 1972 as a multilateral, non-governmental research institution devoted to interdisciplinary, policy-oriented research. At IIASA, multidisciplinary, international teams of researchers conduct research on issues related to environmental, technological, and economic aspects of global change, including energy and technology, population, and natural resources. The Institute thus serves as a neutral forum for sustained investigation and discussion of global and international issues. It is located in Laxenburg, Austria, near Vienna.
The intellectual merit of the proposal consists of the work by the U.S. NMO, in collaboration with interested U.S. researchers and Government agencies, to formulate U.S. views regarding IIASA's research, budget, and administration. This helps to insure the integrity of the Institute and guides the IIASA research program in ways that will maintain its quality and its relevance to U.S. research and policy concerns. The NMO works to broaden the impact of the Institute and its work by serving as a liaison to the U.S. science, technology, and policy communities, with the goal of increasing participation in and awareness of IIASA by Americans in academia, government, business, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This includes recruiting for and funding IIASA's Young Scientists Summer Program for advanced graduate students; helping to find suitable candidates for IIASA's job vacancies; serving as the hub of a national network of interested scholars and policymakers; and helping IIASA to find opportunities to participate in national policy debates.
The chairman of the U.S. Committee represents the U.S. NMO at IIASA's Council meetings. The Council is composed of representatives from the 16 NMO's; each NMO country pays an annual membership contribution. The U.S. Council member was elected to a three-year term as Chairman of the Council in November 2003, and he works with the Director of IIASA, the IIASA Council Program Committee, and the IIASA Science Advisory Committee to guide and strengthen the IIASA research program. The U.S. national committee carries out an annual review of IIASA's research progress, soliciting comments from academic, government, and other experts in the U.S. scientific community.
