Awards for outstanding science from young scientists program

IIASA has made capacity building and education a central part of its work, equipping today’s young scientists with the skills to develop tomorrow’s solutions. In cooperation with the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, the institute is pleased to present three joint IIASA-NRF Systems Analysis Scholarships. 

The winners are:

• Martin Flatø, a PhD student from the University of Oslo, Norway, who is awarded a six-month Systems Analysis Scholarship for his integrative research analyzing the economic disadvantages of female-headed households in South Africa in conjunction with their vulnerability to climate change.
• Elvis Nkoana, a PhD student at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, who is awarded a three-month Systems Analysis Scholarship for his methodologically diverse research into the efficiency of public education programs to raise South African communities’ awareness of the risks associated with natural hazards.
• Aleksandra Falkiewicz, a PhD student at the Łódź University of Technology, Poland, who is awarded a three-month Systems Analysis Scholarship for her mathematically advanced derivation of the links between micro- and macro-level descriptions of network dynamics.

In addition, Linlin Xia, a PhD student at Beijing Normal University, China, is awarded an Honorable Mention for her research using network-analysis techniques to identify trends in carbon flows between natural, agricultural, and urban land use in the course of Beijing’s metropolitan expansion.

From left: Martin Flatø, Elvis Nkoana, Aleksandra Falkiewicz, and Linlin Xia.

The SA-YSSP

The SA-YSSP was a regional expansion of the IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program. Each year, the YSSP allows over 50 PhD students from around the world to work with distinguished IIASA researchers for three months, gaining new insights into their own fields of research, as well as those of the institute. The SA-YSSP was based on the innovative Research in Triplets framework, in which IIASA scholars partner with regional colleagues to supervise young scientists on projects advancing their joint research agendas.

Last edited: 18 December 2015