The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an independent international research institute located in Laxenburg, near Vienna, in Austria. Through its research programs and initiatives, the institute conducts policy-oriented interdisciplinary research into issues too large or complex to be solved by a single country or academic discipline. This includes pressing concerns that affect the future of humanity, such as climate change, energy security, population aging, and sustainable development. The results of IIASA research and the expertise of its researchers are made available to policymakers in countries around the world to help them produce effective policies that will enable them to face these challenges. Organization IIASA has over 400 researchers from 52 countries that work in Laxenburg, and an extensive network of collaborators, alumni, and visitors from across the globe. The institute is currently directed by Albert van Jaarsveld. Wolfgang Lutz is the current Interim Deputy Director General for Science. Past directors have included Howard Raiffa, professor at Harvard's Business School and Kennedy School of Government, Roger Levien, former vice president for Strategy at Xerox, Leen Hordijk, former Director at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy, and Detlof von Winterfeldt, professor at the University of Southern California. IIASA is a non-governmental institution funded by scientific organizations in its member countries, which currently include: Austria, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia (Observer), Mexico, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the US, and Vietnam. Funding for the institute also comes from contracts, grants, and donations from governments, international organizations, academia, business, and individuals. Its research is independent and completely unconstrained by political or national self-interest. History On 4 October 1972 representatives of the Soviet Union, United States, and ten other countries from the Eastern and Western blocs met at The Royal Society in London to sign the charter establishing IIASA. It was the culmination of six years’ effort driven forward by both the US President Lyndon Johnson and the USSR Premier Alexei Kosygin. For IIASA it was the beginning of a remarkable project to use scientific cooperation to build bridges across the Cold War divide and to confront growing global problems on a truly international scale. The first scientist had arrived at IIASA in June 1973. IIASA built international multidisciplinary teams to confront innumerable global challenges, both long-standing and emerging. For example,