IIASA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) Awards in recognition of outstanding research conducted during the program.
Each year, the YSSP Awards honor participants who have demonstrated exceptional creativity, scientific rigor, and relevance in addressing pressing global challenges. This year, three prestigious awards were once again granted: the Peccei Award, the Mikhalevich Award, and the Levien Award. Additionally, two participants received honorable mentions for their excellent contributions.
© . André Baumgart
The Peccei Award was presented to André Baumgart, a PhD student from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria. His research titled, Prospective scenarios of global mobility infrastructure and their embodied CO2 emissions, focused on developing the model of Global Mobility Infrastructure Stocks (GLOMIS) to estimate the materials used in different types of transportation infrastructure and predict how much will be needed for expansion, maintenance, and replacement by 2060. It showed that reducing demand for transportation and using greener production methods, like recycling and cleaner materials, can significantly cut emissions, but a combined approach is the most effective.
© . Todd Davies
The Mikhalevich Award was awarded to Todd Davies who is currently pursuing a PhD at University College London in the United Kingdom. His research, An ecological model of market competition, proposes a new way to understand competition by looking at how companies interact and compete, using ecological models to create better tools for enforcing laws that prevent corporate dominance and protect the public interest.
© . Sarah Schöngart
The Levien Award was granted to Sarah Schöngart, a PhD candidate at Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. Her research titled, Attributing local climate extremes to income deciles using a chain of computationally efficient emulators, explores the disproportionate impact of wealthy populations on climate extremes. By employing advanced computational tools, she quantified the relationship between wealth-driven emissions and local climate changes, offering valuable insights for progressive climate policies.
© . Candelaria Bergero
In addition to these awards, two participants received honorable mentions. Candelaria Bergero, a PhD student from the University of California Irvine, USA, was recognized for her study titled, The implications of underdelivering and underestimating carbon sequestration. Her work examines how relying on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies to limit global warming may not work as expected, due to their current limitations and the complexities of the Earth's climate system. The research shows that if these technologies fail to meet their targets or are overestimated, global temperatures could rise significantly beyond the goals of 1.5°C or 2°C by the end of the century.
© . Ted Buskop
Ted Buskop, a PhD candidate from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands, received an honorable mention for his innovative work on Plausibilistic climate impact storylines: Risk priorities and its drivers in an uncertain future. In his research, he introduces a new framework to help regions plan for future climate risks by combining different methods to consider both climate and societal uncertainties. He applied this framework to flood risk in Latvia, showing how varying climate and socioeconomic changes can lead to different levels of risk, helping regions make more informed, adaptable decisions.
The YSSP Awards highlight IIASA's commitment to fostering interdisciplinary research and nurturing the next generation of system thinkers. Each winner has made significant contributions to advancing knowledge and addressing real-world challenges in climate change, economics, and sustainability.
"The YSSP Awards celebrate the extraordinary talent and innovation of young researchers tackling some of the world's most complex challenges," says IIASA Capacity Development and Training Dean, Fabian Wagner. "This year's winners have not only advanced scientific understanding, but also demonstrated the power of interdisciplinary collaboration to drive meaningful change. We are proud to support their continued contributions to solving global issues."
The award recipients will receive a stipend to return to IIASA for up to three months to continue their research.
For more details about the YSSP and its impact, visit the YSSP webpage
