This award provides the U.S. National Member Organization contribution for 2004 and 2005 to the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). This multilateral, non-governmental institution located near Vienna, Austria, was established in 1972. The Institute is an international organization devoted to interdisciplinary, policy-oriented research focusing on global change, energy, population, and natural resources, and serves as a neutral forum for sustained investigation and discussion of global and international issues. The Institute is located in Laxenburg, Austria near Vienna.
IIASA is governed by a Council composed of representatives from 16 non-governmental National Member Organizations (NMO's) including the United States, Russia, China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Japan, and several from 16 nations, Western and Eastern European countries. In accordance with the IIASA Charter, the NMOs pay annual contributions to the Institute. The Council appoints a Director to serve as chief executive officer of the Institute, and the Director is responsible for the formulation and execution of all Institute activities, including preparing budgets and research programmes for submission to the Council. Dr. Leen Hordijk has served as Director of IIASA since July 2002.
IIASA investigators combine methods and models from both the natural and social sciences in analyses that provide policy insight on global change issues, particularly their human dimensions, for decision makers, the scientific community, and the public worldwide. The Institute's budget for 2004 was approximately ten million euro, of which 72% was provided by membership payments from the NMO nations. The project work at IIASA is highly leveraged through the organization and coordination of international scientific networks of researchers and research institutions that contribute their skills, resources, specific local knowledge, and assistance in dissemination.
