IIASA

08/09/2026

🌍 How can science help build bridges, strengthen trust, and support security across borders?

This week, IIASA is contributing to the 32nd OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, focused on the role of emerging technologies and science-based diplomacy in strengthening security and stability across the OSCE – The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe region.

At the Joint Preparatory Meeting in Vienna on 7 September, IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber delivered the keynote, Building transnational bridges by multilateral research, highlighting the importance of international scientific cooperation in addressing complex challenges that transcend national borders.

The conversation continues in Prague this Thursday, 10 September, where IIASA Senior Research Scholar Ping Yowargana will speak in a session on the role of science in diplomacy, exploring how sustained scientific cooperation can build trust across borders and support international cooperation.

Learn more about IIASA’s participation:
Joint Preparatory meeting 👉 https://iiasa.ac.at/events/sep-2026/32nd-osce-economic-and-environmental-forum-science-based-diplomacy-for-security-and
Concluding meeting 👉 https://iiasa.ac.at/events/sep-2026/iiasa-at-concluding-meeting-of-32nd-osce-economic-and-environmental-forum

📷 Lepasik | Dreamstime

08/09/2026

IIASA researchers contributed to this new assessment from the UN Environment Programme and the Climate & Clean Air Coalition, providing integrated modeling and analysis of mitigation opportunities, implementation costs, health impacts, and air pollution reduction benefits across world regions.

“Our analysis shows the value of looking at climate and air pollution together. By combining long-term scenarios with detailed analysis of mitigation options, we can identify measures that deliver benefits for climate, health, and economies, and show how their potential differs across regions,” explains IIASA Pollution Management Research Group Leader and report coauthor Zbigniew Klimont.

The report finds that every US$1 invested in integrated climate and clean air action could generate around US$15 in benefits, demonstrating the value of coordinated approaches that deliver for climate, health, and economies at the same time.

Read more about the findings and IIASA's contribution 👉 https://iiasa.ac.at/news/sep-2026/investing-in-climate-and-clean-air-action-can-deliver-15-fold-returns

🚨 NEW REPORT: What if every $1 invested could return $15?

New findings reveal the huge economic, health and climate gains of tackling climate change and air pollution together.

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-every-us1-invested-climate-and-clean-air-action-can-return-us15

UN Environment Programme

04/09/2026

AI and machine learning are opening up new possibilities for climate science – particularly when it comes to making sense of complex, large, and often incomplete datasets.

The next IIASA AI for Climate Science Seminar looks beyond what happens next to a harder question: What would happen if the system were different?

After a short summer break, the series returns with Dingling Yao, ELLIS PhD candidate at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria - ISTA and visiting researcher at Caltech, for her talk, “Beyond prediction: Answering climate what-if questions from observations.”

Drawing on research into tropical cyclones and sea-surface temperatures, Yao will explore how AI systems can move beyond pattern matching to recover meaningful physical structure from observational data and reason more reliably about conditions not represented in their training data.

📅 Wednesday, 9 September 2026
🕓 16:00–17:30 CET
💻 Online via Zoom

⚠️ Registration is required for online participation.

👉 Register and find out more: https://iiasa.ac.at/events/sep-2026/ai-for-climate-science-seminar-series-beyond-prediction-answering-climate-what-if

📷 Justlight | Dreamstime.com

02/09/2026

🎧 Tonight at 9pm on Austrian radio Ö1: What does climate change mean for Austria – and what can we do about it?

Tune in to hear IIASA's Keywan Riahi discuss the findings of Austria’s second national climate assessment, with a focus on solutions, opportunities, and the choices ahead.

The broadcast features his lecture (as part of "Wiener Vorlesungen"), recorded at Vienna City Hall, moderated by Marlene Nowotny and followed by a conversation with Andreas Januskovecz.

👉 https://oe1.orf.at/programm/20260902/843966/Klimawandel-in-Oesterreich

📷 Source: Radio Ö1

02/09/2026

🌍 Global temperature rise is set to cross 1.5°C within the next few years, pushing climate risks to increasingly dangerous heights. However, it is still possible to limit the magnitude and duration of and bring temperatures back down.

A new UN Environment Programme report, Limiting Overshoot, to which several IIASA researchers contributed as authors, identifies an “overshoot, peak, and decline” pathway as the best remaining option to limit warming, reduce harm, and bring global temperatures back below 1.5°C as soon as possible.

“Insufficient emission cuts mean we are set to exceed 1.5°C. This summer's extremes at not even 1.5°C show what's at stake. We need to win the race to net zero carbon emissions, massively upscale adaptation, address the loss and damage caused, and build up capacity for long-term warming reversal. Dealing with an overshoot world demands everything, everywhere, all at once,” says IIASA Integrated Climate Impacts Research Group Leader and report lead author Carl-Friedrich Schleussner.

What happens in an overshoot world – and what we can still do about it – will also be at the heart of the 2026 Overshoot Conference, co-hosted by IIASA and Tsinghua University in Beijing on 24–25 November.

📢 Researchers: Abstract submissions are open until 6 September. Join the conversation and help shape the scientific program 👉 https://overshootconference.org/sample-page/abstract-submission/

🎧 Want to understand climate overshoot and the choices ahead? Explore the Overshoot Conference Podcast, a nine-part series featuring leading experts on mitigation, carbon dioxide removal, tipping points, adaptation, loss and damage, climate justice, and more 👉 https://overshootconference.org/the-overshoot-conference-podcast/

🔗 Find out more: https://iiasa.ac.at/news/sep-2026/un-report-urges-immediate-action-on-overshoot-as-world-set-to-cross-15degc

📷 LCVA | Dreamstime

01/09/2026

🌍 We’re hiring: Researcher / Research Scholar – Climate Impacts and Damages

How do we better understand and anticipate the real-world impacts of a changing climate?

IIASA is looking for a researcher to work at the intersection of climate impacts, extreme events, attribution, and damages - developing indicators that connect observed impacts with future climate scenarios.

From heat and health to food, water, energy, ecosystems, and the economy, this role will help build a clearer picture of climate risks across interconnected systems.
📍 IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria
🔗 Find out more and apply: https://iiasa.ac.at/employment/job-openings?jh=40pszb0gmzg6mt15devqrs9k00anef3

01/09/2026

🎉🎇 After three months of interdisciplinary research and scientific exchange, the IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) 2026 has come to a close.

🌍 This year, 52 young researchers from 15 countries joined IIASA for an inspiring yet busy summer, during which they explored new methodologies, connected across scientific disciplines, and developed research seeking to address complex national, regional, and global challenges.

🤝 Most importantly, we hope that this was also a summer of new friendships, experiences, and adventures for these brilliant young researchers.

💡 We congratulate the 2026 cohort on their achievements and look forward to seeing how their research and new connections continue to make an impact on our world.

Learn more 👉 https://iiasa.ac.at/news/aug-2026/iiasa-2026-young-scientists-summer-program-concludes

31/08/2026

Calling all hobby gardeners in Lower Austria: research needs your green fingers and your garden knowledge!

Maybe you’ve found a plant the bees can’t resist, noticed fewer butterflies, or have a gardening tip that’s been in your family for years. These everyday observations matter to research.

IIASA’s citizen science project G/ArtenLeben brings local gardeners and researchers together to explore how gardens can support biodiversity. At our G/ArtenCafés, you’ll share experiences and help create a survey by gardeners, for gardeners. You don’t need a scientific background, just your curiosity and garden stories.

Choose a free workshop:
🌿 11 September, 14:00–17:00 - Schloss Laxenburg
🌿 18 September, 13:30–16:30 - ARCHE NOAH Schiltern
🌿 2 October, 14:00–17:00 - DIE GARTEN TULLN

We’ll provide coffee and cake, garden admission, an expert-led tour, and a €40 ARCHE NOAH voucher. Bring along a plant or photo with a story to share.
👉 Pick your date and register now. Participation is free, but advance registration is required.
Know a gardener who’d enjoy this? Pass it on: https://g-artenleben.at/de/page/garten-geschichten

Natur im Garten | Marktgemeinde Laxenburg | Biosphärenpark Wienerwald

28/08/2026

📢 The abstract submission deadline for the 2026 Overshoot Conference has been extended to 6 September.

Co-hosted by IIASA and Tsinghua University, the conference will bring researchers, policymakers, innovators, and communicators to Beijing on 24–25 November to advance the global dialogue on overshoot pathways and responses.

Thank you to everyone who has already submitted. If you haven’t, there’s still time.

🎧 Want a preview of the ideas shaping the conference? Explore the nine-part Overshoot podcast series, featuring expert perspectives on mitigation, tipping elements, carbon dioxide removal, adaptation, loss and damage, climate justice, and more.

More information: https://iiasa.ac.at/news/aug-2026/overshoot-conference-2026-in-beijing-abstract-deadline-extended