New National Research Center Established at Tel Aviv University

A new National Research Center for Applied Systems Analysis has been established by the Austria-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Israel Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (MOST) and Tel Aviv University.

The new center will be named IASACE.

The purpose

The focus of Israeli Applied Systems Analysis Center of Excellence will be sustainability and it will cooperate with global research institutes, particularly with IIASA.

The goal will be to help the research teams at different institutions connect, promote research innovation and also function as a center for policymaking (science-based) on local as well as national government levels.

Recently, Israel had also renewed its membership with IIASA for the next five years. The new institute will take advantage of the existing research framework and integrated assessment models at IIASA and localize it in accordance with the economy of Israel.

In the first five years, funds of about NIS 3 million will be given to the institute by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.

During this period, the TAU will also provide an additional NIS 3 million and other external resources. The institute will then become an independent national research center.

The themes

The center will have four main themes and a team of researchers belonging to different disciplines will lead them.

These include Dr. Vered Blass for Resource Management, Prof. Asher Tishler for climate and energy, Prof. Itzik Sasson for Demography and Resiliency and Prof. Hadas Mamane for Technology and Innovation.

A number of disciplines will be part of the research topics, such as circular economy, energy, water, transportation systems, climate change, demography, policymaking, economics, bio-diversity, food systems and agriculture and health.

The strategic research areas and the prioritized research areas of IIASA and IASACE, respectively, will be aligned.

The IIASA’s research areas will include programs like climate, energy and the environment, natural resources and biodiversity, strategic initiatives, advancing systems analysis, economic frontiers and population.

Other details

The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology’s director general, Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, said that the establishment of the new research center was of the utmost importance for the country.