South Africa

South Africa became a member of IIASA in 2007 through its member organization, the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Since South Africa’s membership of IIASA, a range of research collaborations and capacity building activities have been developed by IIASA and over twenty South African research partners.

The most notable activity is the Southern African Young Scientists Summer Program (SA-YSSP) that developed system analytical research skills among over 80 doctoral students from 30 countries including 35 students from South Africa. This lead to the establishment of the Southern African Systems Analysis Centre, which has evolved from the success of the SA-YSSP.

Latest research news:

16 June 2021

Finding pathways for sustainable development in Africa

A new project funded under the Belmont Forum’s joint Collaborative Research Action on Pathways to Sustainability will develop novel tools and capacities to understand and manage interlinkages between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and support sustainable development pathways for African countries, tailored to local capacities and priorities. More

08 June 2021

Getting a fuller picture of COVID-19 infections

Options Summer 2020: Knowing how many people are infected is key to accurately monitor pandemics. IIASA researchers used a novel approach to indirectly estimate the fraction of people ever infected and the fraction of people detected among the infected in the United States. More

11 February 2021

Raising climate ambitions could save millions of lives

Adopting policies that are consistent with achieving the Paris Agreement and prioritize health, could annually save 6.4 million lives due to healthier diets, 1.6 million lives due to cleaner air, and 2.1 million lives due to increased physical activity, according to new research. More