International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria

Hardly anyone could believe my summer plans. “You're going to work in an Austrian castle?” a fellow graduate student asked. “Well, it's more like a palace,” I explained, somewhat sheepish about planning to research civil war in such luxurious surroundings.

The truth was I couldn't believe my luck. After completing my second year of graduate studies in demography at the University of California, Berkeley, I was accepted at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), a small, multilateral, autonomous research institution that runs a summer programme for PhD students. Located just outside Vienna, the IIASA allows scientists from all over the world to convene and collaborate to address issues within the institute's three theme areas: natural resources and environment; population and society; and energy and technology.

Each summer, about 60 graduate students work on their PhDs through IIASA's Young Scientists Summer Programme (YSSP). This offers the students a chance to explore the policy implications of their work. The IIASA's projects range from the technical — developing and applying mathematical modelling techniques — to the practical — integrating social and natural-science models and data in policy-relevant analyses.

I spent most of my time on my research into whether a young population and abundance of natural resources make civil wars more likely to start. My mentor gave me helpful input on how to model these processes over time. Seminars and focus-group discussions exposed me to the work of important worldwide scholars.

A midsummer workshop allowed us to share our current research. Many of my YSSP colleagues were environmental scientists, geographers, political scientists and biologists, so the interdisciplinary feedback I received was very helpful. Students and institute scholars suggested articles, techniques and data sets I might never have encountered otherwise.

The YSSP helped me look at my research from fresh angles. It offered the springboard I needed to move from coursework to productive independent research. I've returned with a potential dissertation chapter, lots of new ideas on how to proceed, and a new network of colleagues, friends and potential collaborators from around the world.

→ http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Admin/YSP/yssp2005/about-program.html